In Memoriam

[skirtboy]

This is a bit of verse that I jotted down around Memorial day and had forgotten about.


The call went out, in the cold bitter morning
of the youth of the world
so long ago.

Boldly you stepped up, and off went to war.
In a fish made of iron,
fighting under the sea.

A life full of promise, you gave freely away,
trading family for duty,
swapping love for glory.

Did you sail for your country, for a young wife at home?
Did you sail for your homeland,
or a babe yet unborn?

Through toils and suffurings, you fought bravely on
Amidst the gray waters,
that surrounded thy steed.

As they dropped depth charges, and shelled  without mercy
What image sustained you
and helped you hold on?

And when they hull cracked asunder, and the ocean rushed in
Did you remember your family?
were your last thoughts of home?

For your valour and courage, your toils and pains
All ended that day
When you set sail for eternal patrol

Thoughts?

 

[dox]

It's nice. Few notes, second last verse, first line - "the hull."
And I hardly believe a veteran would say he traded for "glory," in retrospect. It's naive and uncharacteristic of a veteran. And when did they shell submarines? O-o

It's nice however to hear a Memorial poem to a branch of military other than the Army. This is the first I've heard (though, admittedly, I don't spend my days reading Memorial poems) one dedicated to Seamen from the Navy in war.

 

[skirtboy]

Nice catch on the typo. I used "glory" in an attempt to make that stanza flow, but the whole thing still seems a little clunky. As for your question, WWII submarines were more like submersible torpedo boats. They couldn't stay submerged and fight for very long, as high speed sprinting drained batteries extremely quickly, so they attacked on the surface, at night, when possible. So a destroyer, cruiser, or armed merchant had the chance to fight them off with guns as well as depth charges.