Pirate

Look not at me with daggers,
When you look me in the eye.
My eyes may flare like comets
Beneath this scarlet sky,
But how different is this pirate
From thine own accusing eyes?
Do not point a finger irate
Nor cry hypocritic lies.
I am no worse than you are,
No more bloody black my role.
I may indeed show more scars,
But you hide more in your soul.

(This piece was originally published in the 2004 issue of The Traveler, where it was awarded 2nd Place in Poetry.)