Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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56 Sleep is for the Weak
1
I spent 24 years in the Navy,
And I remember those first instructive days,
On board the Mine Sweeper Dash,
It was my first time underway.
2
From Rhode Island to Halifax,
January in the North Atlantic,
On a tossing ship built of wood,
Following a schedule that was frenetic.
3
The Dash was a Reserve ship,
With only half a crew,
The rest reported two weeks a year,
And that North Atlantic gale blew.
4
The gale churned up mountains for waves,
And I learned about the swell,
With the exhaust from two diesel engines,
Giving everything the same smell.
5
I was sick from the sea buoy on,
But I couldn’t let them know,
I was the new green Ensign,
With nowhere else to go.
6
Then I saw the watch schedule,
Four on and four off for two weeks,
While off watch you did your job,
There was no time left for sleep.
7
But in the end it didn’t matter much,
As our racks fell over in rough seas,
And I was on the fantail throwing up,
Deviled ham and black-eyed goober peas.