Final

[guanin]

A Pirates of the Caribbean Poem

Title: Final
Pintel's final thoughts at his execution.

The sun glares down at him
It’s censure burns
red-hot
into his flesh
like the cold
merciless eyes of the hungry crowd
their visages sharp as carrion birds
waiting to devour his life
with jagged teeth
An indifferent drone lists his crimes
'Piracy, smuggling, looting...'
In his mind
an ugly, dark voice snarls
the most condemning word of all
Failure

In the corner of his eye
he hangs
sways
a broken leaf in the wind
A wooden eye languishes at his feet
while a black bird pecks at the other in its socket
Bitter bile rises in his throat
'Don’t worry, we’ll get out of this,' he’d said
A promise brutally broken
by the cold crack
of snapping bone
Hot tears scald his eyes
He had failed
Failed to keep his word
Failed to keep him safe
He’d clung to him when they came
to take him to the noose
Frightened eye fixed on his
They had to tear him from his hands
He called his name then he was gone

He hears a flutter of wings above
and sees the same black bird flying overhead
The hammering of the drums quickens
and the cruel cord is wrapped around his neck
It bites into his skin
The wooden planks under his feet shiver
and fall
A final image of his smiling one-eyed face
flashes in his mind
and he sinks into oblivion