The Sea Thieves Poem by Tony Adah

The gulf of Biafra
They told us is full of sea thieves
A wooden framed ship sea tossed
And homebound with tomatoes and snails
And onions and vegetables
The crew men and passengers
Have the hearts in their hands.
Far into the blue sea
Two flying boats seem to be afloat
One chasing the other
And both chasing the wooden framed ship.
You can not tell the difference
Until they are near you
The occupants of one in a uniform
And the other in plain clothes.
A ship is robbed in two ways
When separately the flying boat meet it
But when the uniformed men
Meet the plain clothes men
A fight ensues
And usually the plain clothes men
Will scamper away
And in this the ship is robbed
In only one way
But you can never tell the difference
Between the pirates
And their chasers
Yes, even the crew men or the passengers
Or the sea itself
Is aware that there's hardly any difference.