A Ship's Tale Poem by Edmund V. Strolis

His sea tale nearly disappeared with him
Without even the wake of a minnow's tail
Gone with him within that voyage
To the land of no-return

But the widow's plea proved even greater
Than the story of brothers of the sea
So confession he would make to her
As the midnight candle burned

The ghosts of shipmates stirred again
From the dark and watery grave
Men some stronger and braver than he
Yet only he returned

He told no tale of shipwreck or storms
Or of pirates preying upon a wayward ship
No this was no treasure story
As she was soon to learn

She heard of a ship trapped in a windless void
Brains frying under a relentlless sun
As minds in madness peaked and boiled
It was kill or never return