Had the dog watch from midnight till four
walking up and down the bridge
never at ease, training his binoculars down to the sea
to look for the white stripe of a torpedo coming towards the ship.
During the war
his ship had been hit
he had acted heroically,
a transient minister of defense
had pinned a medal to his chest,
but his recurring nightmare
was of men aflame
throwing themselves into a sea afire;
he had to be alert
mustn’t let it happen again,
even though, the war was long over.
The company had decided to let him go
he was making everybody nervous,
gently told him that he would be better off ashore,
where I’m sure he would be quite helpless.
Stay in a B&B till money ran out
than be a tramp forever walking the docks looked down on
and called a drunk
and no one would ever know
that once he had been a hero of the sea.