Poetry Friday--Shiver Me Timbers!

It's best to yell
And blessed to smell.
Act rash and rude.
from "The Pirates' Code of Conduct"

A few of the tenets of piracy as poetically expressed by Shiver Me Timbers! Pirate Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian, with illustrations by Robert Neubecker [J 811.54 FLO].

This book just arrived here at the library and I'm sure will soon be flying out the door. It's just plain fun! If you don't believe me, read on:

Blackbeard

Blackbeard braided his long black beard,
Then tied the braids with bows.
He stuffed burning rope beneath his hat.
Put a ring right through his nose.

Blackbeard boarded many a ship
To pillage and plunder and steal.
He robbed with pleasure
Great troves of treasure,
Which he did his best to conceal.

Blackbeard feared no other man--
A pirate as cruel as they come.
One look from his eyes
Could terrorize,
But he always wrote home to his mum.

Neubecker's paintings are bright, his pirates are multi-cultural, and, his humorous details are marvelous!

If you don't want to be fed to the fish, you'd better sail over to Paper Tigers for the Poetry Friday Round-Up.