The Seabed Wreck

I like to dive on a sunken wreck

If the sea is not too rough,

The seabed’s littered with carcasses

I never can get enough,

They range from the Roman caravel,

With the huge, high mounted prow,

To the dinosaurs of steel, from wars,

Still roaming the oceans now.

Some of them lie not far offshore

So the water’s not too deep,

I can trail an oxy line down there

Up to a hundred feet,

But a scuba tank I would have to thank

For the freedom to explore,

Deep in the bowels of a sunken ship

In the search for gold moidores.

I dived one blustery Autumn day

In a well known coastal rip,

The sea rose up and carried me off

Away from my chosen ship,

But through the gloom of that Autumn storm

There loomed an exciting shape,

The remains of a Spanish Galleon,

Blown way off course by the Cape.

All I could see was the galleon stern

With the Bon-Adventure mast,

Broken off and above the mud

It had settled in, at last,

I wriggled in through a window frame

And I found the Captain’s den,

Complete with the Captain’s skull and bones

Back from I don’t know when.

The figure sat at a writing desk

Sprawled in an ancient chair,

The wood of each was well preserved

And so was the Captain’s hair,

A flintlock pistol lay on the desk

Next to the dead man’s hand,

A bullet hole in the bleached white skull

As the ship sank into the sand.

I knew that gold lay under the mud,

I’d have to come back and search,

But just as the storm was blowing up

The galleon gave a lurch,

It freed itself from its clinging grave

And started to float away,

And I swam out as it disappeared,

Lost to this very day.

For somewhere under the heaving sea

It sails, but under the swell,

Back where its sailors sailed before

When they were consigned to hell.

It roams abroad with its hoard of gold

And may well settle again,

Along with its phantom Captain, but

Will never be seen by men.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[William Michael Reeves]

I've always been fascinated by shipwrecks. You write about all the excitement that can be found in them. Treasure and history. Mystery. Ghostly allure. I was hoping to read in some notes about an adventure you had. Have you had the pleasure of diving on a sunken wreck. I really enjoyed this poem. I may have to dive into it again!

[A Soap Mess Stories]

A fantastic tale of lost secrets at sea.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good tale shared. The sea keep her secrets. Thank you David for sharing the outstanding tale. I loved this one.
Coyote