After standing on the decks of the memorial for the U.S.S. Arizona,

I wrote this poem to honor our fallen comrades on the

50th Anniversary of that day, December 7, 1991.

It is included in my book, Autumn Leaves.

We came to pay you tribute,

O’er encrusted decks we stood.

And because you are deserving,

We rendered as we could.

Oil seeps up to surface light,

Rainbowed tears of those below,

Doomed forever to silence

Those many long years ago.

“Forget me not,” you whisper.

“Perish the thought,” say I.

“Though you sleep beneath the sea,

Your memory shall not die!”

“Remember Pearl! Remember Pearl!”

Soon became our national cry.

Our country rose in anger

On a vengeance trail to fly.

We shed our tears; we shed our blood.

War took an awesome toll.

Still we fought on to victory

While you topped our “Honor Roll.”

So rest in peace, fellow comrades,

The victory has been won.

We’ll not forget the price you paid

Seven December, Nineteen Forty-One.

Note: Oil still seeps out of the hull of the U.S.S. Arizona, creating rainbows on the water above it.