Pirate ship off the Jersey Shore
Brown against the double blue of sky and water.
Kids with grease-laden pizza entranced,
strands of skee-ball tickets poking out of pockets.
Their parents are busy buying cotton candy,
as raiding parties plunder booty of six-packs and
fluke and flounder from cabin cruisers
and planes pull beer ads overhead.

Pirate ship off the Jersey Shore
Sailing north towards the riches of Manhattan,
past the wrecked amusements of Asbury Park.
Impotent looks from beach cops on ATVs
out checking for sunbathers’ beach passes.
Beach combers’ gazes pulled away magnetically
from the soft beeps of their metal detectors.
The Staten Island ferry takes evasive maneuvers.

Pirate ship off the Jersey Shore
Its sails are down for a night of revelry.
Teenagers sitting on the sand oblivious,
sharing some jokes and taking some smokes
as feral cats fight under their cars.
Speakers blaring Bon Jovi are lashed to the masts.
The captain stands on the foredeck with a bottle of rum
tapping his wooden leg to the beat.