It's In Me Blood

It's In Me Blood

The pub were full the night we met,
Ol’ Benny Hawkins and me.
The crew were rowdy – we sailed the next day –  
And the rum were flowin’ quite free!
I sat and watched Ben drink all night
And drunker and drunker he became.
Sailin' together, we became fast mates,
And I found Ben’s nights were all the same.
I’d seen the drink kill a man before,
And I hated to watch it take Ol’ Ben down,
So I waited for a night when he weren’t so in his cups
And there weren’t any other crewmen hangin’ ‘roun’.
Hearin' me out, he answered,
“I know I should stop drinkin’, I should!
But I fear it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,
“The Devil's thirst, aye!  It’s in me blood.”

The deck were hot as we stood to,
Me and the rest of the men,
To watch Ol’ Benny take a lashing,
For he had been fightin’ again.
He’d pulled a knife in the fo’c’sle,
Near takin’ another man’s eye,
The ‘master had warned him ‘bout fightin’,
So they beat Ben till he come near to die.
Later I tended the cat’s scratches
With bits o’sail covered with lard,
And I asked, “Why must ye be a brawler
When it makes your life so hard?”
Grittin' his teeth, he answered,
“I’d stop me fightin’ if only I could!
But I fear it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,
“The red madness, aye!  It’s in me blood.”

The ship were burnin’ like Hades
As we fought to take a new prize,
And that day Ol’Ben become a hero;
I saw it with me own two eyes.
We were havin’ the worst of the battle
When Ben charged the enemy crew!
He rallied our men and he saved us . . .
But he paid the Devil his due.
I knelt by Ol’ Ben at the last moment,
As the light slowly slipped from his eyes.
I asked him, "Why did you do it?"
And the answer came as a surprise:
“You men, you're all like me family,
“And it’s me home, this ol’ bit of wood,
And I guess it’s in me blood, boy,” he said,
“A Pirate's life, aye!  It’s in me blood!”

Stephen Sanders

©2009