Black Horse Rum

Coastal schooner built for speed
and navigate shallow waters,
launching cutters to row ashore
referring to them as daughters.

Molasses from the Caribbean
hoisted aboard in kegs,
three dozen of them in the hold
gives the voyage it's legs.

The British Navy stands out to sea
all warships with deep draft,
as the little black schooner slips away
close to land and very fast.

Dark sails and hull she runs at night
as the English sailors sleep,
out of reach in the shoaling waters
where her skipper likes to keep.

Back in Boston to be distilled
the kegs values multiplied,
merchants bidding heavily
for what they have inside.

Crushed and boiled way down south
dark and thick and sweet,
to satisfy the Yankee's thirst
and make the angels weep.

Night vision and courageous heart
vie with the King's own ships,
gambling lives and fortunes
to win all of the chips.

Little black schooner 'Dark Horse'
hasn't been captured yet,
so on each voyage the skipper
lays another heavy bet.


by Robert Quinn
all rights reserved