Sunrise With Sea Monsters Poem by Ernest Hilbert

For Ray Harryhausen

"Huge Octopus Topples the Golden Gate! "
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms skulks
Ashore, hearing a foghorn, lonely for friends.
Nessie slips from the Loch to seize a mate.
Swarming tentacles haul great, breathing hulks
From frozen deeps to clutch prey, then descend.
The clumsy frogman from the Black Lagoon
Gazes, glistening, from the giant sail
Of the drive-in screen at nestled, flinching teens—
But these Things don't belong here and soon
Slink from secured soil, sink in a cold whirl,
Beaten back by ray guns, germs, and Marines.
Sea birds, drunken on guts, hover over
Churned seas, watching for the next poor monster.