Beneath the oceans restless skin; <br />Deep below the waves. <br />Lie the rotting hulks of many ships. <br />Sailors lonely graves. <br /> <br />Fighting storms and tempests <br />To bring goods to our shore. <br />A mighty wave; a ships back broke; <br />They were seen no more. <br /> <br />Buried neath the waving fronds <br />Of giant beds of kelp. <br />They went down on foundering ships. <br />Far beyond our help. <br /> <br />In times of peace and in times of war <br />These unsung hero's sail. <br />They were the lifelines to our shores. <br />But sometimes alas, they fail. <br /> <br />Just ordinary merchant seamen, <br />Paid to do their work. <br />Knowing the risks they had to run <br />They never thought to shirk. <br /> <br />Under the sea the U Boats stalked. <br />Hunting like the shark. <br />Killing with torpedoes. <br />Silent in the dark. <br /> <br />To all of us that stay ashore <br />And sleep in a safe warm bed. <br />We have a lot of thanks to give. <br />When the sea gives up her dead.<br /><br />Brian Joseph Dickenson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/merchant-marine/
