Brutum Fulmen

A ballad. The brightest storm was often lit by thunder's scourging hell. The lightning from this cracked the earth, like the Liberty bell. Refrain (I) Was darker than a normal night, so dark that none could tell. The seaming stitch that dressed the world upon the brightness fell. (II) And such was the forsaken state that cost the men their pay. When currently the bolt was sent, all gold transformed to gray. (III) The men knew not how to respond - the women, they were slaves. The only brains left on the mains were sailors and their knaves. (IV) With dank of wit and braze of steel the captain ordered thus: From hereout to, the sea's our crew. In Poseidon we trust. (V) We reap in frothy, wet rewards; the gold beneath the sands, the coral, pearls, and wind's regret before the unknown lands. (VI) Despise me, said the skeleton who guarded o'er the reef. Dont let the men their avarice unturn this wretched leaf. (VII) And as it was, thetreasure chest to this day - never found. It sank below the roiling surge, one more dream left to drown. Refrain.