Pirate School Poem by Bryan Norton

From village to village and seaports of plunder
The children of peasants are making a blunder
If hope is for heroes who rise in the moment
Then many get zeroes for troubles they foment

The mind and the measure of lads who are leaving
Are learning by joining the throngs of believing
In winning a treasure and spending their booty
And all for the pleasure of doing their duty

For what can a lad who is finding his bearing
Expect from a life that is filled with such daring
The person may pause in the course of his peril
But what of the sailors who die by the barrel

The kingdom of kings may be caught in the rubble
The course of all things which are causing the trouble
The scorn of the peasants who pick up their axes
Is said to be read in the bills of new taxes

And mothers still mourn for the loss of their young
And the scorn of the truth as it rolls off the tongue
And the aged who cry for the loss of their youth
In a passel of tears and a thimble of truth

But what can you do for these kids and recruits
Who are fresh out of school and the fur on their boots
Who are claiming more knowledge with less than before
As they race for the wind at the back of the door

The blood and the slaughter that one finds in battle
Is better for pirates who poke as they prattle
The pirate is prone to an old way of thinking
That hurting is winning and loving is shrinking

So less by the leads of the poverty making
And more by the needs of the risks we are taking
The school that we started for children in progress
Is better for students who think more in duress

And from this new version of pirates and glory
And tempting the youth by a new kind of story
The promise of schooling where knowledge is healthy
Is better for winning than robbing the wealthy

From morning to evening, in rising and sailing
Our pleasure for working is wiser than failing
The image or progress of kids that we finish
Is something to cherish and never diminish

Though wealth is a wonder that pirates are picking
We hope that our students will stay with the licking
The poking and prodding of people in public
Is better for learning than leaving the subject.

The school is for youth and for youngsters of passion
Who know that a pirate is more than a fashion
The conduct of Captains' who promise you glory
Is better for losing than winning a story.