Poem: "Ode to a lost love of my youth"

I watched from the shoreline

As the gallant lady passed

Gray as death lighted by pale morning light.

Once again bound for the sea

My eyes beheld only beauty as she passed

Pleasant memories of comrades filled my mind

Suddenly the horizon engulfed her

She was lost to sight and cloaked by the vastness of the sea

To the Elysian fields has she passed

To Become a faded memory for she is . . . . . gone . . . . forever Gone

Written by Mark R. Day 5/4/14.  Copyright by Mark R. Day 5/4/14, all rights reserved.

[written as an expression of the feelings held for the USS Nassau LHA-4 upon the date of her decommissioning and retirement from active service.  Five years of my youth were lived out on her decks upon the open sea.  As they say you may take the sailor out of the sea, but you can never get the sea out of the sailor.  It may be hard for a landsman to understand the unique relationships that exist between a sailor and his ship; she was a beautiful lady and every man assigned to her loved her with his whole heart.]