Washed ashore, deserted hulls
Battered and torn by raging storm
Now nesting sites for crabs and gulls
Marooned on beaches as waters calm
Howling gales unsteered their course
Man and Nature fought to the last
No refuge offered from nearby ports
Joined the wrecks of centuries past
Bottom breached, rust ate their shell
Drenched in darkness, they groan in pain
Rotting hulks with tales to tell
Of men and their follies, curse in vain
Some lie silent on the beaches
Washed ashore by crashing tides
Some lying beyond the river reaches
In craggy, foggy places hide
Some lie at the bottom of the ocean bed
Many foundered by rocks and fog
Thousands sunk in battle, bled
By those who let loose the dogs of war
Limpets of legends grow with time
On brown, decaying rusty shells
That cast shadows on the coral and lime
Every wreck has a story to tell
Of pirate gold, of gigantic whales
Of ghosts still there, trapped within
Oh once mighty, proud ships with sails
Rust in peace. God bless. Amen.
