off our port beam
a sister destroyer
plunges into an oncoming wave
a dense wall of white water and spray
is thrown up across her decks
her bow rises high
exposing her keel
as she does the tin can rock and roll
through the heavy Pacific swells
…
we came alongside the carrier
at twelve steady knots
ready to take on fuel
exchange mail and movies
i looked up from my station aft
at the underside of the flight deck
as sailors high above
peered down at me
…
anchored in the bay
the million lights of Hong Kong and Kowloon
riot on either side
sampans and strangely built small craft
scud by in the darkness
surrounded by billions of people
i will never know or understand
the quiet night watch rolls on
…
Gunners Mate Kern
is tattooed from waist to neck
buttoned up in uniform
none are visible
he retains a blank area of skin on his chest
for a clipper ship when next we get to Japan
one day at sea we fire the five-inch guns
the forward gun mount suddenly falls silent
we wait while i watch from my perch high above
after the required interval
the gun mount door opens
Kern steps out onto the rolling and pitching deck
wearing thick insulated gauntlets
cradling a hot seventy eight pound high explosive projectile
calmly walks to the port side
and dumps his armload of death into the sea
then strolls back to the gun mount
climbs inside and closes the door
…
far up the river in a secret secure place
the long black boats nestle
side by side
against their gray mother
it is dark, quiet and raining topside
while onboard inside the boats
the activities never stop
we crawl over and around the missiles in their tubes
checking, measuring, adjusting
we test the computers and launch equipment
that lie forward in a small compartment
where we spend hours
sometimes days
chasing system gremlins
modifying and checking
double checking
verifying all is well and true
sleeping sometimes on foul weather jackets
piled into a corner
working without stop
until the boat and her nuclear nightmare cargo
are ready to disappear under the oceans and seas
the big stick no one wants to use
The Ace Hotel Notebook 