I lived a total of eight months on four Navy ships as a civilian contract teacher between 2011 and 2015. Six months were out at sea in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean; two months were in port in Japan. This is a small sampling of that time. I've chosen photographs carefully to exclude people or detailed features of ships. I visited many ports, but these are generally not included here as the focus is ship life. See Japan as one example of a port. More to come. This was before I had a proper camera, hence sometimes average or low image quality.
Please click on the images below to see slideshows and on the video to watch aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings.
Please click on the images below to see slideshows and on the video to watch aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings.
O Ship (written approximately 2/2012 aboard USS Ramage)
O Ship
…
You impenetrable swaying hammock
You are a steel beast
I stand inside your naked belly
I sleep in your bosom
Lined with your pipe and wire entrails,
Every organ serving some function – precisely in its place.
Eating, drinking, breathing, excreting -
As much as any creature of the earth.
You are seeing, hearing, thinking
Radar eyes, satellite ears,
Fiber optic spinal cord.
Armed with ballistic missile teeth,
Breathing 5-inch-gun fire,
Fuming exhaust,
And always growling your deep guttural growls.
O Ship,
You are an iron monastery
A floating hermitage
You are my sanctuary
In this unfathomable watery desert.
I am cloistered within you,
Following daily ritual…
You lack stained glass –
Rather you glow white, red, purple –
Lit from the blast furnace within.
There are no monk’s chants here,
But whistles, bells, and calls to prayer there are many.
O Ship, our lives are your life,
our prayers are your prayers.
O Ship
…
You impenetrable swaying hammock
You are a steel beast
I stand inside your naked belly
I sleep in your bosom
Lined with your pipe and wire entrails,
Every organ serving some function – precisely in its place.
Eating, drinking, breathing, excreting -
As much as any creature of the earth.
You are seeing, hearing, thinking
Radar eyes, satellite ears,
Fiber optic spinal cord.
Armed with ballistic missile teeth,
Breathing 5-inch-gun fire,
Fuming exhaust,
And always growling your deep guttural growls.
O Ship,
You are an iron monastery
A floating hermitage
You are my sanctuary
In this unfathomable watery desert.
I am cloistered within you,
Following daily ritual…
You lack stained glass –
Rather you glow white, red, purple –
Lit from the blast furnace within.
There are no monk’s chants here,
But whistles, bells, and calls to prayer there are many.
O Ship, our lives are your life,
our prayers are your prayers.
I Know the Sea (written 10/23/2011 aboard USS Ramage)
I know the Sea.
I know the Earth.
An endless interconnected patchwork,
A great blue quilt
draped over and between
the hard, dry ancient solidity
of rock – jagged and unforgiving
of mud and sand – uncountable quantity
of powdered particulates pounded
forever finer.
Earth – A burning heart at its core
bound by this watery body.
I know this Sea.
Night and day I feel its sway.
I gaze into its vastness.
It holds me in its grip.
You wise wild Wind –
You blast across the Earth
You salt the air
You whoosh
with your ferocious fickle power
past my ears now.
I know you.
I know you Sea.
I know you Earth.
We both bask in the light of the sun.
We both revel in its warmth
turning towards it and away.
We both glow by the moon and stars.
We both sit here in this black eternity
knowing and known.
I know the Sea.
I know the Earth.
An endless interconnected patchwork,
A great blue quilt
draped over and between
the hard, dry ancient solidity
of rock – jagged and unforgiving
of mud and sand – uncountable quantity
of powdered particulates pounded
forever finer.
Earth – A burning heart at its core
bound by this watery body.
I know this Sea.
Night and day I feel its sway.
I gaze into its vastness.
It holds me in its grip.
You wise wild Wind –
You blast across the Earth
You salt the air
You whoosh
with your ferocious fickle power
past my ears now.
I know you.
I know you Sea.
I know you Earth.
We both bask in the light of the sun.
We both revel in its warmth
turning towards it and away.
We both glow by the moon and stars.
We both sit here in this black eternity
knowing and known.