I remember when I was a boy

how my mother would playfully accused my father for

infidelity with the god of the sea

That boy looks to the sea

the way his brother looks at food My father would jokingly say

Me

& my family would add on to the joke

as the humor of it all was infectious

As my brother

& I grew closer to adulthood

the bridge between me

& ny family would begin to fall apart

as It was my brother who would go off to start his apprenticeship for sailing

while I was seen as the straggler who couldn't get It together

Eventually

I had all I could with them

& left the house I was raised in for good

While on my own I made some good relationships

with people my father would call

vulgar animals

merchants

thieves

& entertainers alike

It wouldn't be long before I would begin my own apprenticeship

My mentor was a cabin boy for a pirate crew

& negotiated with the quarter master to bring me in as a swabbie

Under his tutelage

backbreaking work

& a few pillaging from som freshly made corpses

I became the new quarter master

I was very proud of my achievements

& was continuously praised by the other mates for my appearance

that of a specter of death with a beard that spews

flames

To the fortunate

& future souls that have yet to cross my path

abandon your possessions

or abandon your hope for tomorrow

because Blackbeard Is coming to collect