Capsizing
The morning had broken, the crew needed to be awoken
But everyone snored, and no one stirred
The Liberty Belle's mast was tilting to the east
She had begun to list, into the morning mist
The rats seemed to be the only ones that cared, they were running scared
Rats aren't dopes, and were soon squealing their way down the ship's ropes
The fall out of bed, had left Bret rubbing his head
Marie Loé was sat on the loo, but couldn't let go
The tilt of the deck, reminded Bret that he was a wreck
He moved toward the sink, and fell before he could think
The ceiling wasn't spinning, it was leaning
He crawled to the hall, and sounded the toll
The ship was in a panic, with naked people falling from their bunks, it was manic
He barely had time to shimmy into his underwear, but would anyone care
The half-naked crew, of men and women, were hailed, there were but a few
Most were still trying to dress, whilst writhing on the floor, it was an immoral looking mess
The crew had to forget their pride and get those pumps up and running, or we'd soon be capsizing
Checked the boiler, its fire was still burning, he was grateful, that means the engine will soon be running
The fact that Bret was still in his underwear and socks, didn't stop him yelling, "Tie the ship's capstan to the makeshift docks!"
As the capstan began to turn, the strain was as much as the docks could bear, but they held tight, so he didn't care
The nervous wait for the hiss of steam, found him wishing he was still in his dream
Then Liberty Belle's aged pumps began to turn with creaks and groans, like an old man's aching bones
The engine coughed and spluttered, but none of that mattered
For the bilges had to be emptied or like others, before her the Liberty Belle would have died
The deck juddered as they kicked into life, and the sparsely clothed crew on the shore ran for their life
Water shot from the port side, with the force of a cannon, it could have ripped off their naked hide
The half-naked crew had stemmed the list, and the ship's mast began to rise from the mist
As the sound of Bart's laughter, echoed from the bridge, at the sight of his brother sat on the docks, in only his underwear and socks
The sight couldn't look any funnier, it made the morning seem sunnier
But Bret wasn't one to hide, he notices a rather bedraggled Miss Smithfield by his brother's side
The poor girl's face was soon all aglow, he was about to make her the star of the show
Wagging his finger he said, "No wonder the Liberty Belle's was listing, it looks like you two spent the night doing more than kissing."
The truth didn't phase Bart, and like the gentleman he was, he kissed her tenderly on the forehead and courteously wrapped an embarrassed Sammy gently, in the warmth of his checkered cowboy shirt
"We'll save it for later brother, first, you've got some explaining to do," pointing at the top deck, towards their mother and father
"The boys done good, Missy."
"But Denver are you sure she's not a hussy?"
"I was talking about Bret, come on my dear, he's a man and she's a woman
The night we've just had, and you think that she's bad?"
He grinned and winked, they cuddled together, she blushed and smiled
The heartfelt love in their eyes brightened the Salt Marsh's early morning skies
Not everyone has cherry blossom memories to share