Fore All

Ominous clouds herald the call of war
and so the belligerent battleships make ready
while fathers bid farewell to wives who can merely watch
with children too young to fully understand
what must be done to defend the motherland,
the fleet heading west to meet their match
there to roar with guns as the sea sprays wild
disturbed by the scattering shots of battle
while calibers boom and fire blossoms violently
testing the steel of the ships
and the mettle within men's hearts
as they do their duty
a necessity against such evil,
the opposing lines meet amongst the waves
exchanging shots from afar and up close
giving no quarter or mercy
each seeking to sink the other
to send as many to a watery grave
or cremate in foul fire so that they can no longer fight
alarms ring out deafened by the conflict
as broken metal groans
wills defiant to the very last,
the unfortunate disappear beneath smoke and tides
never to be seen again, only remembered,
victory is found in the remnants
the aggressor bloodied and beaten back
though the cost is high
families reunited under clear pleasant skies
yet some are not;
their fate is to be unfulfilled
where children grow up without a father
only a memory and a pride in their sacrifice.