covered with fragments of metal,
We moved that debris and opened the hatch,
The smoke rose from that fiery funeral
Somewhere below we could hear a scratch
And this brought sights to my mind so visual
Like Poe himself could not match,
Like some cold corpse escaping its tomb
Or a still born baby within the womb.
We proceeded in silence and speed
To rig a pulley to bring up the men,
Half-inch Becket bend lines would aid our deed
Now two men stayed topside for it was then
That three of us followed Boat’s lead
Down into hell like punishment for sin,
And I was the last to descend within,
And these thoughts bring hurt to my heart again.
Down that metal ladder with rungs so warm,
We did descend like larva to decay,
In the dark shadows I could see the form
Of grotesqueness for my eyes did stray
My mind with visions far from norm
And would bring me night terrors to this day,
In night horrors I was soon to know
Of chases in dreams and no places to go.
I reached the bottom of that gray deck floor
And raised my head slowly to look around,
My hat light outlined to my right a door
Which spit forth smoke and brought the sound
Of tired moans and wails which made my ears roar,
And forced my eyes open to what I found,
From here on I am no longer the same
And perhaps I am already insane.
Each man went off a separate route,
Trying to find those who might not be dead,
No words were spoken, we all were mute,
For we could hear from below with dread
The death sound of flood pumps kicking their boot,
And from that place we should have fled,
For in minutes the place would be flood
And we would be counted as part of dead blood.
We stayed, for twenty minutes, we then had
And Boats bee lined to that door to the right
That gave forth the smoke, cries and wails so bad
Which made my heart race like swallows in flight,
Now this next vision I tell is more than sad,
For I followed him to that space not bright,
And he had entered into the room
A place my mind would create as a tomb.
At the door I paused and glanced to look down,
Had I not, I would have stepped on an arm
A shipmate I assumed I had found,
I reached for the wrist to check pulse warm
My stomach squeezed an internal alarm
That almost made me throw up in my mask
For to the door the arm was attached.
Now, my friends, my tale becomes more gruesome,
And I must now slow down my rhyming pace,
For I want you, to feel the pain to come,
Therefore, we all must take it fact to face.
The world was still spinning and I was numb,
There’s no way to tell this with grace,
And if I ramble as I tell to you,
My reason is simple - this tale is true.
For the emotions that swell within me
As I write these lines, are hard to explain,
For I wallow in despair happily
Some nights, and it leads me through somber rain,
To sit alone with some warm beer and see
Once more those scenes and relive that pain,
For that was a day my mind would fixate
And haunt me with an unnatural fate.
Now if my words are at least, listened to,
I could find comfort, but they shall not be,
For when I shed light, I know what you'll do
You'll throw down this rhyme and think poor of me,
And you know - I really wouldn't blame you,
I would do the same as you except I see
I was wrong in my judgment and fears
And hope my words fall not on deaf ears.
Now if you decide to read on, please do
And continue to listen to my rhyme,
I only want to ask one thing of you
Forget prejudice of your early time
And if this you can momentarily do,
Perhaps you to will be able to find
The deep sorrow another soul can feel
But please don't read on against your will.
“God! No! Please, no!” these cries came to my ears
And I stepped inside and saw Boats kneeling
Beside some fire burned youth of twenty years,
For to that burn crusted blond he did cling.
He removed his mask and I saw his tears
And I could see the youth’s chest, slowly spring
To and fro but reducing all the while
And to Boats the youth gave a weak smile.
He was the man to whom the arm belong
And there he laid in his own blood no good,
He gasps, “Hey you know you got to be strong,”
He stopped to choke then said, “I wish I could
Tell you how I feel. We were never wrong,
Where we? If the people just understood.”
I listened to that queerish song,
And I could feel in my chest a great weight
As I watched this man’s good-bye to his mate.
I heard that youth say, “Please hold me near,
I don't want to die, for the first time, “I
Was really happy,” These words, he spoke clear
And I stood there and watched those two cry,
For they clung, holding one another near,
Crying, and I heard one asking God, “Why,
After we finally find happiness
Just to take it away from us?”
Then Boats with a quick snap
Pulled him close, into his lap,
And the emotion here cannot be wrote,
The blood kept flowing like beer from a tap
For his stump gave forth a liquid red moat,
Boats wiped soot and ash from his bloody face
And caressed him with a warm embrace.
The youth spoke, “please tell me how you love me
You're the only one in my life to care.”
Boats rocked him back and forth, I could see
For I had never seen men touch so free,
Tears from Boats falling on the youths burnt hair,
And I never knew such a love could be
Of two masculine men who understood the plan
That only the soul as intelligent love did stand.
Boats spoke as if his heart was split in two,
“Don't talk - I want to hold you close to me.”
He leaned and kissed him as all lovers do
A kiss as tender as a willow tree
For this to me was a sight so new
I had never thought of men loving you see,
Other than ones father and let me say
I was touched deep inside that day.
He showed the compassion that each had
And they held each other so near
It made me realize life for them was sad
And I could feel their lonely life of fear,
It choked my throat and tore my heart so bad,
The power that love had here,
So much need and loneliness on that day
I had never before seen come my way.
The kiss ended with a sigh that brought death
And then from Boats I could hear a slow wail
Like a child left alone with gasping breath
And he kissed again those lips so pale
And his body did shake with tears of wrath
I'm trying to tell yo
u but my words fail,
To relay the emotion of love here
Of how two men could be so near.
Boats cried and rocked and rocked and cried,
For no man had I seen carry on so
This went on til it made me hurt inside
For how long they had loved I'll never know
But I could sense part of Boats to had died,
And throughout his cry I could hear this moan,
“God, please, no. I don't want to be alone!”
Alas, my story is not over yet
There is still much sadness and pain you see
And let me say I never regret
The enlightenment that happened to me
For I can be assured and I would bet
If you had seen, your mind would also be free
So, let me tell you the rest that happened
And to quicken, the remains I have shortened.
Boats finally got his self together
And aided in the rescue of the rest,
For twenty-two men where what we gathered
The news had said the death toll was six at best
But I knew one soul had not been gathered
Though it walked out alive is living jest
An entity left laid in that pitted hell
A day I shall remember well.
Now the six of us were ordered to Captain’s Mast,
At the mast we were awarded Courts-Martial
The five that followed Special courts were cast,
And Boats court was ordered a General.
The crimes we committed could not last
And if found guilty the military law
States eight years to life locked in a cell
To punish us for that primary hell.
We were locked away in the brig that day
To wait for our Court-martial to begin,
But you know those damn courts never came our way,
And we didn't have to worry to win
For I don't know and who am I to say
What influence came about to change it then
But some of those saved wrote home to tell
And the newspapers gave the Captain hell.
I guess the publicity saved our tail
For a Congressional Investigation
came through slowly in the FPO mail
And then we finally got some action
We were released from those blaggard’s jail,
Then they ordered for us a citation,
One from the President of all the jerks,
They wanted to show how the system works.
Now, there we stood in line for that citation
And the President had to shake our hand,
Inside of me was no satisfaction
There was one thing I did not understand.
Why Boats stood in deep contemplation?
For what was to come was ever so