Robin is just a boy of nine
Yet his dreams aren’t far from grand
When kids his age play with toys
He craves for a pirate band
Lost in thoughts he lingers all day
Deep in a world of dreams
His trance is not so easy to break
Unless his mamma screams
School is a pain and so are rules
He longs to fly with the breeze
Mundane life is but full of shackles
For a pirate from the high seas
He wants to be the daring Sindbad
Or perhaps Captain Sparrow of the legends
He wants perhaps to rule the seas
And find where the horizon bends
So Robin sets out in his dream
To look for the city of gold
His pirate ship sails the seven seas
Till it comes to a sea cave old.
He swims in with the ebbing tide
The cavern is creepy and dark
As his eyes get used to the lack of light
He thinks he sees a spark
A tolling bell from somewhere distant
Seems to ring a distinct chime
He swims towards the source of sound
And reaches a tunnel of lime.
There at the end of the stinking tunnel
Flickers a little fire
And from within flows a broken tune
The sounds from a broken lyre
With a thumping heart he makes his way
Towards the flickering light
When a hurtful ding of a massive bell
Sets a thousand bats to flight
Out of wits in this eerie darkness
Robin stops to take a breath
He senses someone coming towards him
And the putrid smell of death.
From the darkness comes a hoarse cackle
Appears an ogre filthy and large
The pirate grips his cutlass tight
Ready to slash and charge
‘Come on in pirate’ rasped the aged ogre
And beckoned with a toothless grin
‘Been waiting for you all this time,
Three quarters of a century it’s been.’
Wary of the awful monster,
Yet curious of what lies ahead
The young buccaneer follows the giant
His blade ready to sever its head
He follows behind the crooked old ogre
Into the depths of the limestone tunnel
He senses the reality receding as if
They have walked right into a bubble
By the fire before a raised altar
The monster sits upon the floor
In the altar stands a huge bronze bell
The one that had tolled before
The ogre twirls his gnarly fingers
And casts a magic spell
Bemused, the pirate just looks on
As a fog engulfs the bell
The bell starts chiming, it seems from far
And it lifts the misty curtain
And lo behold a set of golden letters
Gleams on the gong for certain
The pirate looks with a burning gaze
For he has found at last his clue
He looks at the giant’s wrinkled face
The ogre winks and bids adieu
Before his eyes the bubble breaks
Vanishes the bell and fire
Slowly the figure melts away
Of the ogre with his broken lyre
The pirate runs out of the tunnel
Released from the magic spell
With his heart pounding in excitement
He lets out a triumphant yell
Captain Robin boards his ship
And he takes his place at the wheel
The brigands turn the ship around
And cry out ’El Dorado’ with zeal
‘City of gold, here I come’,
Robin cries out in his sleep
His mamma yells for him to rise
He gets out of bed with a leap.
The boy looks out of his bedroom window
The sun has risen high
He comes to terms with this ‘real’ world
And lets out a mournful sigh.
The golden city of El Dorado
Eludes him but one more time
‘Plenty of years’, the young pirate mutters
He is yet to reach his prime.
Read more of Abhigyan's creation here.