Delusion of a crimson fire

The captain saw a crimson fire;
He called his young men and their guns —
he knew them rather trusty ones —
and shot right at the air.
The sight rendered the whole crew blind,
the fire costing them their minds,
as warmth engulfed as if a pyre
and left them standing there.

“It surely is the Devil’s play
or demons and their schemes.
It cannot be, to me it seems,
a close to natural force.”
When all the captain’s lead ran out,
he to his crew began to shout
“And must I say, with great dismay
that we have lost our course.”

The crew in loyal creed agreed
their end was close in sight
and all then planned to spend the night
with one final hurray.
They all went down to cheer, before
their God led them to Heaven’s door;
and then they went to bed to sleep
but by morning were awake.

The captain brought the ship to shore
and saw the sky a cloudy grey
“That surely is the Devil’s play,
though I am still alive!”
He summoned all the crew to deck
and wondered why they weren’t dead.
Then he heard the fire roar
and saw its dying light.

They disembarked to find out what
had caused the flame and warmth.
There they saw something afar
had caught somehow aflame.
The captain saw a tower burning;
the smoke had spread, as if so yearning
to keep on Earth its ashy run
and drive people insane.

They spent much time contriving stories —
they thought it Satan’s fault —
and blamed the beast for man’s assault
against the vacant tower.
Within themselves they imbued fear
that this was not an arson mere,
but a brutal rape of Godly glory
by some Satanic power.

The captain told his men the end was nigh:
“I tell you all, I’ve never feared,
till this day, the end was near
and so I bid farewell.”
He with his men returned to ship,
took the pistol off his hip,
embraced his fellow men goodbye,
and with a bang then fell.