Jill Jones: Morning/Rattles/Clouds

Arctic patrol 1942

1. Shore leave
In the ignored morning
spent early firing guns
turning my ears inside out

got cleaned up
caught the truck and train
visited my good friend Fox
in the Basement Bar

2. A visit
impossible to drag men from under
steep rising gangplank
ladies descend

with difficulty two Jeeps plow
scent of perfume, cosmetics
a cloud of mosquitos
peek-a-boo lace - a riot!

dozens of prospects
among a sea of grinning
base morale rises in minutes

3. At sea
a trustworthy diesel rattles bowels
a magician machinist
and the black gang crew
squeeze eleven knots from the monster

full throttle, Madam throbs in tempo
engine pounding bowels
way beyond imagination

4. Final news
crippled or
holed-up in some remote fjord
engine problems

complete many small chores
then the fear is official
capsized under heavy ice
skipper never sailed as far north

lost forever
believe this to be true
death by drowning

Note: This poem was the result of a search on SearchMil.com and uses words and phrases from a specific document turned up in the search.