Infamy

He knew war was coming.
It was on the horizon
But he could not have known
That distance was being measured
Not in years or months
But in miles.

And those miles were closing quickly.

Tumbling from his rack
He completed his toiletries
And changed into his crisp
New Navy Whites.
He promised his mom
He would faithfully attend chapel.

Heading topside

He heard the band of the
USS Arizona
Playing the National Anthem.
The score was underlined
By the steady drone of engines
And odd splashes in the water.

Then explosions.

His starched Navy Whites

Were now blood spattered and torn.
He barely heard returning gunfire
From another ship.

Then he felt a massive upward thrust
And deafening explosion as the
Forward powder magazine erupted
Tearing the bow and its compartments
Into twisted, blackened pieces.

But he never felt the crashing steel

Or cringed in the blistering, searing fire.
He was beyond that now.

He lies yet within the massive hulk

Waiting for care that never came.
But he sleeps in honored glory
His name with his shipmates
Etched upon the tall tablet
All the 1,177 dead that remain
With the Arizona
On Eternal Patrol.

And they never knew they were at war.