What If A Pirate…?

What if, in blind battle, our blind last hour,
As we still built the world for love of man,
Held ransom by our honor—all we built
Tribute paid to rulers who build nothing—

What if, in one late hour, our homeward steps
Illumined by a Romantic moon,
A preposterous pirate arose on our path,
Viking blond and implacable as gold—

"All stolen from the hero in your soul,"
He said, by those self-righteous plunderers,
I seized in honest combat, justice armed,
And in gold unconditional return to you?

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