A Forrestal Sailor’s Lament

Guest poem by USS Forrestal veteran, Gregg Perry

First in defense I was constantly told

Its lackluster countenance every morning I would behold

Grey by day, (I am young)

Black by night, (I want to go home)

Just another day on the steaming pile of iron…cold.

Vision behind now moves me

Passageways, Catwalks, Catapults, and the Sea

I can still feel the rhythmic thrum, (years have gone by).

An old heart beating bold, (I cannot go back)

But with new revelations my heart skips a beat

You see, there is always more to the story; I’ve learned to beware

For it bears the name of a Man, the “subject” in a most heinous affair

Oblivious plight, or did he not know?

Evil answers no questions.

I can only hope that it was quick and painless, as he succumbed to the snare.

“First in Defense!” she cries, as we answer the helm;

“Send them a message from my watery realm!

I was named rightly, I was true

It was they who sealed my fate, in both flesh and metal doom!”

I listen, I see, I wonder, I hate, now sadness…I’m overwhelmed.