Dan’s Online Diary 

grey dull day
greets grey dull ships
rain-hazed harbour
floats jagged silhouettes
killing machines quiet
lethal force stood down
single bird - wings folded
rests on deck - asleep
routine procedures
tedious in peace

but now my mind fills
stories from my boyhood
shattering sirens yank
frantic fervour from snap-woken soldiers
screaming sirens shove
boots on running to posts as icy arctic air nails through the warmest
shoulders against rests as sight swings to spot swooping stuka
lead leaps out against the sky
tracers plucking at wings and tail as diving birds disengage from deadly droppings
payload plunging past upper aerials - smashing superstructure
burrowing beneath decks to sit still - seconds stretching to seeming hours of time
before the blast erupts - shredding steel - concussion shattering order
magazine detonates - shells explode - gunner thrown
bones breaking as body tossed against bulkhead
inferno rises - flames fill the fearsome night
the screams of tearing hull as vessel collapses
the screams of tearing minds as the unthinkable is realised
the roar subsides but for the hiss of steam as ruptured engines bleed
the churning sea open - hungry devouring flesh and steel
but soon the bubbles are diminished as the bird flies on
peace once again but on the surface still a slick
to show where once a warrior stood

but out my window rests still these warriors
wild war a far-fetched figment from these fair days
but built for battle they be
their time shall arrive all too soon....