Stories told by men of old,

Of secrets held in waters deep.

Giant squid that swallow ships,

And Moby Dick his raith did reap.

~

What visions lie in minds of men,

Of evil born in godless Hell.

To take their lives to Neptune’s grave,

From mast and plank to death they fell.

~

Darkness tricks doth surely play,

As do voyages far from home.

Not much does it take for insanity to set,

Cause to pray for a watery tomb.

~

A seaman’s life is a life of great pride,

Tough are the souls that partake.

Many a man has gone down with his ship,

Never once was it thought a mistake.

~

Honor and duty were the marks of these men,

Hearty and rugged and strong.

Not so very smart in the schoolmaster’s ways,

Baked by the sun to a swarthy bunch they belong.

~

Though the days of mast and sail have long gone,

No less are the dangers at sea.

What horrors await in its watery depths,

Forever shrouded in mystery.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~