THE LAND OF BLUE HORIZONS - Dick Raymond's Poem of the Month

             

                       

                   THE LAND OF BLUE HORIZONS

A Salute

"USS CLAMAGORE (SS-343), the U. S. Navy's last diesel

submarine, originally commissioned in the final weeks of

World War II and presently stationed as a floating museum

at Patriots' Point, near Charleston, SC, has been slated for

demolition and possible sinking for part of an artificial reef,

in Atlantic coastal waters." – News item

There's a Land of Blue Horizons,

Where old warships go to die,

With a warm sun ever shining,

And no end of friendly sky.

Where the breeze is soft and gentle,

Little waves caress the beach,

And the old ships smile and murmur,

Blest with mystic power of speech.

And their old crews there may gather,

Sipping beer and telling tales

Of adventures, of old sea-fights,

Foreign ports and raging gales,

Here the peace is never broken,

And King Neptune stays his hand,

As the great fleet lies at anchor

In the harbor of that Land.

There's the Langley, sunk off Java,

And the mighty "Lady Lex",

Whom her planes in many a battle

Left our foes as shattered wrecks;

Battlewagons–Mississippi,

All her class are mustered here,

Washington

went to the scrap-yard,

Now is moored beside the pier.

Heavy cruisers sunk at Savo

Raised, refurbished, good as new–

Vincennes

, Astoria and Quincy,

Manned once more, with shadow-crew;

Ever true, the Silent Service

Made their mark, and paid the toll–

Here's the Scorpion and Thresher,

Back again from Last Patrol.

So shall be, in some Tomorrow,

All the brave ships that we knew,

Proud and strong, their flags still flying

Bright against Horizon Blue,

All made whole, and everlasting,

Soon may join the CLAMAGORE–

Sailor, raise your hand to honor

Fighting vessels gone before.

1-24-13