LOST PIRATE GOLD

            I wanted to be a pirate

Since the 4^th grade production of Peter Pan.

All my closest friends played lost boys, but

I was a pirate, one of a lawless, loathsome crew. 

The 6^th grade boy who played Captain Hook

Was the coolest kid in the entire school.

He danced around swinging his hook.

Why couldn’t I be him?

I came home and told my parents I wanted to be a pirate.

They agreed on the condition I didn’t run away from home.

I said okay and my mother redid my room with pirate wallpaper.

When my parents made me take dance lessons,

I went as long as I also learned how to do a sailor’s jig.

In high school when my friends and I used fake ID’s

To go to bars two towns over, they’d order beers.

I only drank rum.

In college, fraternity boys were too tame.

I spent my time in bars down by the docks

Listening to sailors tell yarns of exotic places.

I graduated with honors as my parent wished

And gave them my framed diploma.

My mother told me, “Do some good with your life.”

My father made me a deal, go to law school,

Pass the bar and he’d buy me any car I wanted.

            I went, I passed and I bought a bright yellow mustang

With a black stripe down its length. I called it “Polly.”

I joined a crew of lawyers that specialized in bankruptcy.

It was a natural fit for me.  We could take a company down,

Cut its contractual obligations to shreds

And turn a substantial profit.  We were so good

I made more money than any thirty year old

Knew what to do with.

I had a gorgeous, golden-haired girlfriend. 

We cruised to distant islands and drank daiquiris

In dark bars.  She loved the jewels I gave her.

That relationship didn’t last, but each Christmas

I went home, showered my parents with gifts,

Treasures from around the world. 

I think they liked them.

They didn’t say much.

I’d spend a lot of my visit in my old room

Staring at the wallpaper, picking out

My favorite pirates like I use to,

Recalling the 4^th grade play,

Being a pirate. Now

            I wonder, when

Did I become

A lost boy?