The List of Sunken Battleships

You know what I found
when I got to the bottom?

The H.M.S. Hood
and The Prince of Wales

The Tirpitz and The Yamato
The Prinz Eugen and even

the mighty Bismarck.
Each had a day

when it slid from its dry dock
formidable and grand

and announced its
invincibility to the world.

Overbuilt, overblown
and overconfident

there they lie
rusting away.

The ego unchecked
now a playground

for the fishes.
No one ever celebrated

the launch
of a new torpedo.

The torpedo
is subtle and sly.

You know what I saw
when I resurfaced?

The grandiose listing
hard to starboard

and the sublime
fighting on and on and on.

–May 5, 2016