Disclaimer: I steals 'em an' hides 'em in me rum cellar... Don't tell Disney.
Author's note: Everyone knows that Will is released from his curse, with certain conditions, in Pirate Cat's universe... in my fics, he and Elizabeth sail as part of Jack's crew. This fic is set during one of my long fics, "Thicker Than Water", if it sounds familiar to some readers. It was inspired by an interesting bit about Jack in "The Brethren Court" feature on the new AWE dvd set.
BTW - it has been mentioned that the poem was written in 1927 - as an old hippie that has loved this poem for nearly 40 years, I can say that, like with everything, I researched it. Most of the poem is from the ancient world, but was added to and copyrighted in 1927 by Max Ehrmann. Enjoy! Pirate Cat
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The captain of the mighty Black Pearl was badly injured, to be certain... the mizzenmast had taken him down, as it had snapped like a wooden toothpick in the gale that had overtaken the ship. He had saved the lives of William, Elizabeth and Mr. Gibbs as he had knocked them out of the way of the falling mast, only by throwing his own scrawny body, full force, against them, but Jack had taken the full blow of the falling debris, himself. As the ship rocked in the gale, rain pelting down upon the panicked Turners, they scrambled to find their captain underneath the collapsed sails... Elizabeth had found him by the trail of blood that was washing along the deckboards from under the piles of canvas and wood... William had hefted the smaller captain into his arms, and they had finally been able to negotiate the storm tossed stairs down to Jack's cabin, to attempt to save his life...
As William held his captain up in a chair, holding Jack's bloodied head hard back against his shoulder so his wound could be administered to, Elizabeth's trembling fingers were guided by Mr. Gibbs' calm instruction. The needle and catgut stitched together the terrible gash that had opened up on the captain's battered head... blood was everywhere, and Jack's face had been smacked against the hardwood deck so hard that they feared there would be broken bones in the right side of his face... they could do nothing about that except hope for the best...
As the very floorboards seemed to fall out from under them and the lantern light swayed above them, an extensive bandage was wound around the unconscious captain's stitched up head, and they tiredly began to strip his bloody, bloody clothing from him...
Elizabeth had undone the extensive black braids, and was doing her best to rinse the blood out of the captain's thick, waist long mane of hair, while Jack's articles of clothing were falling, one item at a time, into a wobbling bucket of water. Gibbs hurriedly pulled the captain's boots off; the captain was starting to go into shock... as William was worriedly pulling the linen shirt over Jack's bandaged head, carefully... what met his eyes stunned him.
"Will... what is it?" Elizabeth was looking at the startled expression in her husband's eyes, as he beheld Jack's scarred back... it was not the scars that startled him... he knew that a pirate with such a reputation as Captain Jack Sparrow would have been flogged at least once, and deep scars were, indeed, across his shoulders, ruining a small tattoo of what seemed to be a harp... but the other tattoo that presented itself was indeed, unexpected...
William ran a wet towel across Jack's dark back, and hesitated for only a moment... he shook his head at his wife, worry and fright for his badly injured best friend overtaking his surprise, as Jack's breeches were finally stripped, his nakedness swaddled quickly in warm blankets, and placed gently into his bunk by his first mate and his quartermaster. The first mate's wife removed the literal buckets of blood out onto the main deck...
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Mr. Gibbs was sitting with the young couple as the unconscious captain laid, still and quiet, against the nest of pillows and blankets... Jack was very slender and almost delicate of build, and looked extremely small and frail in the half light... his handsome face was pale, but they had at least prevented him from going into shock. Several hours had passed, and the trio that was loyally sitting with this man who had saved them all, once again, upon this night, were finally resting, themselves. Gibbs had brought steaming mugs of coffee from the galley... William had taken a long swallow from his mug, as he resumed bathing Jack's neck and face with a damp cloth to relieve the fever that was now setting in. The captain was as still as death...
"Will..." Elizabeth began, as she watched her handsome pirate husband's eyes become lost in thought as he finally pulled the blanket up and over the captain's bare chest... "What did you see that surprised you so, on Jack's back?"
Gibbs looked up and raised an eyebrow, and William sighed... "I know that Jack has many secrets, but I never expected to see an entire poem tattooed across his back and the backs of his arms... not in a million years." Even in his time as captain of the Flying Dutchman, William had not seen everything, and he could always rely on his friend to continue to surprise him...
"A poem???" Elizabeth's hazel eyes widened in equal surprise... "Jack?" William nodded, as his eyes met Gibbs. "It covers his entire back, along with designs that look like ornate knots and circles..."
"It's a poem is called 'Desiderata'," Gibbs spoke up. "The knots and circles are Celtic designs... they are Irish in origin, an' Jack's homeland is Ireland," the young couple stared at him in surprise, then remembered that Jack's stilted, fractured English carried the barest whisper of an Irish brogue.
"'Desiderata' is a poem that Jack tried very hard to live by, at one time ..." Gibbs continued, sadly, "... Lord knows that he has had a low opinion of himself at some points in his life. I don't know th' significance of it, but th' cap'n has quoted it, now an' then, in th' distant past..." the grizzled quartermaster cleared his throat, and said, softly, "... I memorized it after we parted ways the first time... he was still hunting for th' Pearl after th' mutiny... an' many of its verses kept Jack goin' at th' time... "
As the young couple waited, Gibbs finally began...
"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible and without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant,
they, too, have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are the vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere, life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of the spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness
Beyond some discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be.
And whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy
Elizabeth had tears in her eyes, as William silently looked at the dark, still face of the sick man lying in the bunk, his eyes devoid of kohl and closed heavily, and his breathing slow.
Gibbs said, quietly, "...amazing tha' one as slender an' slight as Jack could have all o' that on 'is back... he had that tattooed before he was branded as a pirate... before so many words of it came untrue for 'im... before he went to the Locker, an' his addled mind has been made t' forget every word of it... he doesn't remember it's there..."
William bathed the silent captain's injured face with cool water, as Elizabeth swallowed hard. Taking up Jack's unusually still hand in her own, she squeezed it, as she murmered, "...... be cheerful...Strive to be happy ... he's always been an example of those words..."
As Elizabeth dashed away tears, William kept bathing Jack's fevered face, and he said, softly, "...nurture strength of the spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune... he still practices that... everywhere, life is full of heroism... that," William said, "... goes without saying..." and silence fell over the captain's cabin.
And as the night wore on and the stormy weather passed, and as they cared for their injured captain, their best friend, they pondered about just how lucky they were to have this man in their lives...Jack Sparrow was an example of unexpected heroism to those that he cared about.More than anything, whether the poem tattooed upon his back had become irrelevent in the life of a man who had been branded a pirate unjustly, and pushed into a world that he did not want, he was the shining example of the simplest of the poem's lines...
"...Be yourself..."
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