Significance
By: Garland Davis
There are good days
The seas are blue/green and serene
Shipboard routine is
Mundane
Life
Is nothing more than a series
Of interconnected tasks
Lacking meaning
Our days dictated by Chiefs and Officers
But mostly Chiefs
Our knowledge, abilities and self-worth judged
By men who were once us
Suffering is but
A sailor’s duty and due
Sin Loi Mother fucker
They say
Life boiled down
To a comfortable cliché
Then the storm comes
Things change
All that was senseless before
Has meaning and importance
Routine is no longer
The mundane
But suddenly and crucially significant
We strive and struggle
We plead to the almighty
To shelter us from the storm
From ourselves
From ignorance
When the storm and gale rage
We realize the significance of life
When a bad one hits
We devoutly pray
That a good one comes
And takes all this significance
Away