The Submarine

It floated ashore one pitch black night

We hadn’t seen it before,

All covered in barnacles and scale

Cast up from a distant war,

It gently rolled as the tide came in

And hit the rocks with a ‘clang’,

Then settled down as its scuppers cleared

The decks, all covered in sand.

The conning tower was an evil sight

Its paint was peeling away,

Ribbons of black, as camouflage

Peeled off in the light of day,

And there we could see the Swastika

Look down with an evil leer,

As once it looked on its victims when

It ruled in a sea of fear.

The storm that had brought it to the shore

Took far too long to abate,

It raged and roared for a week before

We’d take the risk on its plate,

But then we found that the rust had hid

All access into its gloom,

We walked the whole of its length but found

No way to enter the tomb.

There must have been twenty men inside

Or what was left of their bones,

But all I’d hear when the night was clear

Was a chorus of shrieks and moans.

We smashed the hatch in the conning tower

And a sailor ventured in,

We hauled him out in a quarter hour

But his mind was wandering.

I saw some movement deep in the hull

And I called out, ‘Who goes there?’

But then a guttural German voice

Had answered, in despair,

‘Stay well away from the conning tower

It’s a type of evil well,

Once within you are caught in sin

And you’ll find yourself in Hell.’

The sea rose up and covered the rocks

And it floated off the sub,

While all the bones in their shrieks and moans

Screamed ‘Mercy’ - there’s the rub,

They called for mercy they never gave

When they sank each helpless crew,

Now roam forever beneath the waves

In a sub, now sunken too.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Phew.. oh my.. good grief.. arghhh.. and other similar reactions!

As ever always you tell a story in poetic guise and with such fine meter, David... i truly don't know how you come up with these wonders, time and time again. This post is almost a creepy moral.. the evils and results of war... tragic in its way but... that's how it goes.

Thank you yet again for using your skills in such a fine way.

[Valentine]

This is written so well. The lines just float off the tongue. A great flowing piece. Valentine

[Tate Morgan]

They called for mercy they never gave
When they sank each helpless crew,
Now roam forever beneath the waves
In a sub, now sunken too.

Sentiments shared by many across the world David

[Lyn Croker Paget]

Absolute excellent write. The eerieness and sinister vibes definitely grab you whilst reading and absorbing every word. You can really feel the presence of the horrifying demise of those wretched souls!
The unforgiving fury of Hell right to the last verse!

[Barbz]

Hell, indeed! You made this poem come alive....I can almost hear thr shrieks and moans as they called for Mercy that they never gave.....Barbz