Suddenly a ghostly form
In the shape of a ship
Miles below the storm
An underwater crypt.
Lying broken at the bottom
A fate all mariners fear
A prize for Neptune’s gotham
The darkness now made clear.
A link to the distant past
Carrying some priceless treasure
Hidden under the mast
Sealed in liquid pressure.
As for the living souls
That once walked her decks
Or swung from tangled hammocks
Floating free as tiny specks.
Silent fish swim in schools
Looking for a humble haven
Glowing like living jewels
Swift in their evasion.
As we hover in our place
The seabed rises up
To conceal the secret space
Over the tomb we now corrupt.
Her graceful beams are rotten
A once proud vessel lies
Now all but forgotten
Her legacy yet to rise.
What is it about the sea
That draws us to the task
To solve another mystery
Of the fate of men once cast?
And those of us who stand
Along this crooked shore
Cry courage for the damned
Whose souls are evermore.