FOREWORD: As the summary describes, the following are four sonnets – or sonnetlike poems, at least – from the POV of Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Nami, in that order, from shortly before each of them meet Luffy. Spoilers up to and including Nami's background in the Arlong arc, but none after that.
Comments would be much appreciated! With fan poetry I'm mostly concerned whether it 1) scans, and 2) feels IC, but any feedback is very welcome.
DISCLAIMER: Though unnamed, the characters in the poems below are taken from One Piece and as such rightly belong to Eiichiro Oda, their creator. They are used without permission for the purpose of non-profit entertainment only.
xxxxx
He's come here since forever, since before
His memory holds. He's spun a thousand tales
About the waves below, and so much more:
The nameless reaches where his father sails.
The ships pass by at times, but don't come close;
It's up to him to keep the people here
From choking on pure peace and stolid prose
With splendid boasts and pranks beyond compare.
The first step seems impossible to take.
Yet someday he will follow ocean streams
Sail far and wide – he hopes – prepared to stake
his life on going where Adventure gleams…
It sounds so good. He prays he'll never wake.
To give up the sea would mean to give up dreams.
xxxxx
It's not the sea he needs; it's not the waves,
The roar and sigh of them; the seagulls' call,
Nor is it gold and silver that he craves;
There is a man he needs to find, that's all.
He does not need companions: he'll walk
The road alone, grow strong in deed and name.
He shrugs at people's stares and fearful talk.
The promise burns inside him like a flame.
But it's too easy to get stuck on land
The world won't match the course his heart has set.
It twists and turns – too soft, like sinking sand -
And men will try to catch him in their net.
But he can't fail, can't risk what he has planned,
No matter what. He's broken no law yet.
xxxxx
The ships he sees don't pass, but come here first,
Marines and pirates both, to have a rest,
To sate their hunger and to quench their thirst.
He's seen so many crews; he's not impressed.
And if he gazes out at times and sees
Another, sunlit sea –where they all roam
Ten thousand different fish who live in peace,
In that abode, their legendary home,
Delicious all; where beauteous mermaids swim
Most exquisite, so full of charm and grace;
Where dolphins leap; where hunger can't step in –
- he knows it's childish fancies,
knows his place is where an obligation's holding him,
A debt he can't repay. And so he stays.
xxxxx
She does not see the waves. She sees the gold;
she hears the clink of coins within her mind.
The treasures that those pirate ships may hold,
Call out to her, 'Come, see what you can find.'
She's good at this. She'll smile and infiltrate,
Sneak up and make the grab – then run like hell.
Then, off to count the spoils, re-calculate,
And ponder how to reach the Grand Line well.
It will take charts and planning, luck and guile,
But oh! the catching, if the fish will bite!
She might use allies for a little while;
she'll take the lead while they will nod and fight.
Until it's large enough, her hard-won pile,
To buy her village and get back her life.