Joe Kerr
VILE Trickster
Hi guys, the following is a long (very) poem based on the 3-part episode 'Retribution' from the 'Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego' cartoon series. Enjoy.
The turn of the Maelstrom
As lightning cleaves the sky in two
My weary eyes behold the view
The tempest outside, a mirror of my mood
Whilst in this infernal cage I brood
Once I used to roam free and unhindered
My ambition, a fire eternally kindled
Poseidon himself deferred unto me
The undisputed master of the sea
The oceans and their treasures were mine to behold
Yet my thirst was not of silver or gold
Whatsoever I wished, that I would acquire
But a worthy opponent was my fondest desire
The tide turned when a young starlet arose
Foolhardy enough, my reign to oppose
With youthful exuberance she laid down her traps
Yet I saw through what she kept under wraps
As she chased after me, time after time
I knew one day she would turn to crime
Her heart was like mine, to a certain extent
To overcome a great challenge was our deepest intent
I warned her of her inevitable fate
Yet her only replies were of denial and hate
With scorn I derided her, treated her a fool
For she denied what we both knew was true
The game stayed this way for the longest of times
She always fell short of stopping my crimes
For despite her best efforts and relentless pursuit
My wits and technology made her attempts moot
Yet so clearly I remember that unthinkable day
When luck abandoned me, and smiled her way
My greatest triumph it was supposed to be
An affirmation of my lordship over the sea
The sunken 'unsinkable' awaited my call
To rise and awaken from her watery lull
My signal now given, she started to rise
And then came the starlet, to my utter demise
Having escaped the embrace of my eight-armed friend,
She set her sights on disrupting my plan
She succeeded with help from her metallic cohort
A bumbling fool who was more than a few circuits short
By happenstance and dumb luck, more the latter I say
They managed to apprehend me that fateful day
They locked me in chains and left me to rot
My threat of revenge they promptly forgot
From my chains I watched as the starlet spread her wings
As I predicted she set her sights on greater things
Then she committed the greatest sin conceivable
Her gall to me was frankly unbelievable
She became a thief and stole among other things, my throne
The mantle of greatest thief was to be mine alone
For years I plotted, her lesson she’d learn
I would make her suffer, I would make her burn
Finally came the day for me to break free
Out from my prison I managed to flee
My plan was executed without a single flaw
The wardens never saw me waltz right out the door
My escape however was but a minor achievement
The real goal was that upstart’s bereavement
With fury I tore apart the reputation she’d created
I ruined the upstart and left her to be humiliated
With the minx removed and my revenge well served
It was time to regain the laud and acclaim I deserved
My thrones I’d reclaim, my glory I’d regain
And as king of the sea and greatest of thieves reign
My plan was a theft so unheard of in scale
It would be a legend that generations regale
The first ship ever built was now calling to me
She awaited my arrival on the Ararat in Turkey
The ark of legend was within my grasp
When my plan was shattered on victory’s cusp
That darn upstart once again reappeared
Her impudent head she once again reared
Who would have thought that the flock she had left
Would come to her aid when she was bereft
With their help and the aid of her robotic old friend
They once again brought my plans to an end
In shackles they put me and tied me in chains
They caged me up and shut me up once again
They think it’s over, my threat shall no longer loom
Their assumption shall be the bringer of their doom
For just like my namesake I am an unstoppable force
No one shall ever bring an end to my cause
Unless I will it, there is no end to my game
I am Maelstrom, and I cannot be tamed!
The turn of the Maelstrom
As lightning cleaves the sky in two
My weary eyes behold the view
The tempest outside, a mirror of my mood
Whilst in this infernal cage I brood
Once I used to roam free and unhindered
My ambition, a fire eternally kindled
Poseidon himself deferred unto me
The undisputed master of the sea
The oceans and their treasures were mine to behold
Yet my thirst was not of silver or gold
Whatsoever I wished, that I would acquire
But a worthy opponent was my fondest desire
The tide turned when a young starlet arose
Foolhardy enough, my reign to oppose
With youthful exuberance she laid down her traps
Yet I saw through what she kept under wraps
As she chased after me, time after time
I knew one day she would turn to crime
Her heart was like mine, to a certain extent
To overcome a great challenge was our deepest intent
I warned her of her inevitable fate
Yet her only replies were of denial and hate
With scorn I derided her, treated her a fool
For she denied what we both knew was true
The game stayed this way for the longest of times
She always fell short of stopping my crimes
For despite her best efforts and relentless pursuit
My wits and technology made her attempts moot
Yet so clearly I remember that unthinkable day
When luck abandoned me, and smiled her way
My greatest triumph it was supposed to be
An affirmation of my lordship over the sea
The sunken 'unsinkable' awaited my call
To rise and awaken from her watery lull
My signal now given, she started to rise
And then came the starlet, to my utter demise
Having escaped the embrace of my eight-armed friend,
She set her sights on disrupting my plan
She succeeded with help from her metallic cohort
A bumbling fool who was more than a few circuits short
By happenstance and dumb luck, more the latter I say
They managed to apprehend me that fateful day
They locked me in chains and left me to rot
My threat of revenge they promptly forgot
From my chains I watched as the starlet spread her wings
As I predicted she set her sights on greater things
Then she committed the greatest sin conceivable
Her gall to me was frankly unbelievable
She became a thief and stole among other things, my throne
The mantle of greatest thief was to be mine alone
For years I plotted, her lesson she’d learn
I would make her suffer, I would make her burn
Finally came the day for me to break free
Out from my prison I managed to flee
My plan was executed without a single flaw
The wardens never saw me waltz right out the door
My escape however was but a minor achievement
The real goal was that upstart’s bereavement
With fury I tore apart the reputation she’d created
I ruined the upstart and left her to be humiliated
With the minx removed and my revenge well served
It was time to regain the laud and acclaim I deserved
My thrones I’d reclaim, my glory I’d regain
And as king of the sea and greatest of thieves reign
My plan was a theft so unheard of in scale
It would be a legend that generations regale
The first ship ever built was now calling to me
She awaited my arrival on the Ararat in Turkey
The ark of legend was within my grasp
When my plan was shattered on victory’s cusp
That darn upstart once again reappeared
Her impudent head she once again reared
Who would have thought that the flock she had left
Would come to her aid when she was bereft
With their help and the aid of her robotic old friend
They once again brought my plans to an end
In shackles they put me and tied me in chains
They caged me up and shut me up once again
They think it’s over, my threat shall no longer loom
Their assumption shall be the bringer of their doom
For just like my namesake I am an unstoppable force
No one shall ever bring an end to my cause
Unless I will it, there is no end to my game
I am Maelstrom, and I cannot be tamed!
