Pirate Pete and Wrecker Joe

by

Gary Trevose

Pirate Pete and Wrecker Joe
Rowed a boat from Polperro;
Passed The Gribben, Dodman's Toe,
Veryan Bay and Portscatho.

Pete, he had a lifetime's quest
Safely buried in a chest
In a cave that none else knew
Round the point that is Poldhu.

The old man needed someone strong.
The journey would be three days long;
And came the day he met young Joe,
He crossed his palm to make him go.

No road could take them over there;
Their bounty...only theirs to share.
So in a boat they had to row;
Pirate Pete and Wrecker Joe.

The sea was calm beyond belief.
The blazing sun shone through the reef.
Sparkling waters, blue as dawn;
Like chips of ice on uniform.

Joe at first was scared of Pete.
He'd never ask which merchant fleet
Had pirates here in blood run cold
Sacked a ship once full of gold.

Then when Joe had summoned courage
And asked about a stolen luggage,
Pete sat still and shook his head,
And talked of something else instead.

Joe kept prodding through the day
And teased the old man all the way.
"I'll say you're frit of what they'd do
If they found out about your crew."

Pete retorted:"Aye, and you?
What good is there in what you do?
Destroying lives with your deceit.
A ship-wrecked vessel...a village treat!"

On they went in evening sun.
The Roseland and Rosemullion.
"Rest you now," said Pete to Joe;
"We still have two more days to go."

They spent the night at Frenchman's Creek.
They'd known each other just a week.
Pete was wary of his mate;
He didn't know if he could wait.

That night when Joe was full of rum
He shouted:"Tell me what you done.
Enough," he cried;"I've had enough.
The air is full of sailor's bluff."

"Hoi Polloi," cried Pete to Joe.
"I don't want all the world to know."
"Hoi Polloi," said Joe; "Indeed
They'd hang you for your kind of deed."

Pete sat still and didn't flinch;
He didn't move a single inch.
And when the lad had cooled his heat
The air was still for Pirate Pete.

"Watch your tongue, I'll cut it out!
I will not have you scream or shout.
Now listen 'ere and listen well.
I have a sorry tale to tell."

"I've seen them come, I've seen them go
From Velvet Rock to Poltesco.
The last lad, he was just like you;
I thrashed him back to Sennen, too."

"I thrashed him till he had no sense.
He'll bear the scars forever since;
And then I threw him in the sea.
No more that lad will bother me."

"The salty waters made him yell.
They heard his screams in Bloody Hell.
And just like you, his name was Joe.
Where is he now? I'll never know."

"I shall not tell you where it lies;
But take me to my greatest prize
And you'll be thankful you're here, Joe.
'Tis only 'cause I cannot row."

"My hands are sliced half clean away."
Pete's fingers lie in Coverack's bay.
They didn't like the things he'd done.
The priests and peasants made him run.

Up in track in bleeding fright,
Ran screaming from the flock at night.
He jumped the rocks at Point of Dolor.
At least he fled the clergy's collar.

"'Tis all my effort is to walk;
My legs are smashed because of talk.
Now you must take me there, my boy.
Quietly now, else Hoi Polloi."

The morning sun, and just as calm.
The water like a pond...so warm,
So gentle and so crystal clear.
The ocean like this holds no fear.

Ever onward past the river
And Coverack's coastline made Pete shiver.
Past Green Saddle and The Jay,
Thorny Cliff and Kuggar Bay.

Black rock, Enys and The Pan;
Cadgwith Cove and Vellan Drang.
And round The Lizard Joey rowed
Because they dare not take the road.

A thousand ships had met their fate
Round jagged rocks that sailors hate.
Ten thousand souls began to bleat.
They spewed their anguish out on Pete.

The Pirate heard the drowned men shout,
Splashing water all about;
And on they came with cries of woe.
The Pirate screamed out:"Row, lad, row!"

The clouds came black, and sou'east blow
And Joey heard the shout to row,
And pulled oars with all his might
Till Man O' War was out of sight.

Then Joe spoke up "My hands are raw,
You'll treat me like a boy no more.
I rowed the boat, we are a pair
So I'll take half of what lies there."

Said Pete: "Take half and you'll be dead.
Just remember what I said.
I've lost good friends around this bay,
So shut your mouth and take your pay."

"We have to rest with darkness falling;
I'll find salvation in the morning.
I've kept my torment fifteen years;
What lies ahead is worth the tears."

And as Joe tugged the boat ashore
He thought of what was said before.
He hatched a wicked, evil plot.
"They'll never know, I'll have the lot."

And so they stopped another night;
Two figures resting 'till first light.
But at the beach that is Polbream
A sharpened blade destroyed a dream.

And when the night was still and dark
Joe thought "I will end this lark."
That night while Pete slept in his boat,
Joe stepped inside and slit his throat.

And as the night fell into dawn,
And as the old man's dream was torn,
And as the sun picked out a body,
Joe knew that no-one would be sorry.

So Joey rowed alone that day.
"I know it can't be far away.
I'll search each cave until I find
The old man's haul he left behind."

On he went that fateful day;
The coves and cliffs around Mount's Bay.
Caves and beaches circled round;
Elusive treasure wasn't found.

Ever onward, cliff and cave;
Now he was his own man's slave.
Till he found the darkest pit.
Now he knew that this was it.

But at the coast of Gunwalloe
Time was up for Wrecker Joe.
For guarding the cave of the pirate fleet
Stood the ghost of Pirate Pete.

Joe capsized the boat in shock
And screaming, clung onto a rock.
The timeless charm of Kernow's shore
Would be his grave for evermore.

Beneath a towering Cornish grace
Shook a furious ghostly face.
Eyes once beneath a furtive brow
Were burning red with anger now.

"My bounty wasn't yours to kill.
If I can't have it, no man will!
Let the ocean roar, I say
You'll come with me to Hell today."

Did you think you'd read this story
Without the Lizard's storming glory?
The pirate stretched his wounded hand;
The wind and waves were his command.

Thunder crashed and gales blew.
Lightning cracked the sky in two.
Steepling ocean, walls of awe
Toppled down with deafening roar.

The ghost stood out above the reef
And bellowed out his bitter grief.
He bellowed out a hurricane;
Great hills of sea, and sheets of rain.

And then the greatest wave of all,
Upon the pirate's beck and call
Rose with grand majestic flow,
And swallowed up the drowning Joe.

And so both men would never know
Glorious bounty near Gunwalloe.
Both men never thought it through
What the other man could do.

A pirate's life was Peter's sin;
A pirate's death befell to him.
And young Joe, too, a wrecker's life;
That day he left a wrecker's wife.

On that dark and stormy day,
Both men's souls were washed away.
For greed both men had taken breath,
By greed both men had met their death.

Legend claims there's still a prize;
Common man's fortune there still lies.
Yet none knows where, and too few dare
To venture in the cavings there.

But if you're feeling brave one day,
Take a boat around the bay.
You'll know you've found it when you meet
The ghostly form of Pirate Pete.

NEXT?
Why don't you look at AFTER SEX
by: Paul Curtis
from: Woking, England, UK

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