a sloop sailing west
the HMS Gannet
an osprey-class vessel
in 1903, renamed President

in Sheerness Royal Dockyard
screw-driven, assembled
like all the osprey
it resembled

we stole a midnight
on its wooden deck
sitting on the prow
I traced the outline of your neck

you knew i was heading off to sea
you didn�t know when you�d next see me

oh I sailed west
on the HMS Gannet

we were four weeks to sea
when I was brought to my knees

the pirates caught us off the port bow
the seamen were busy getting drunk and rowdy

i was tossed in the sea
my body sank Into the weeds

you waited by the shore each night
unaware of my watery plight