In Waters Deep
In Ocean waves no poppies blow
No crosses stand in ordered row,
Their young hearts sleep beneath the wave
The spirited, the good, and the brave
But stars a constant vigil keep.
For them who lie beneath the deep,
‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On a certain spot and think he’s there
But you can to the ocean go
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride,
In and out with every tide
And when your span of life is passed
He’ll meet you at the ‘Captain’s Mast’
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who will come home no more
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas,
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row
And they can never lonely be,
For when they lived, they chose the sea.
© 2001 Eileen Mahoney
On the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of WW1, Eileen Mahoney’s poem In Waters Deep,
conveys the loss of so many sailors killed during the conflict.