m/s Kari

M/S “Kari” (And her Captain)

Loading coal in Norfolk, mined by Polish Americans and
Charles Bronson, destined for Antwerp, The winter raged
against the coming of spring, our captain, sensibly, let his
ship ride the waves, up steep, mountain slopes down dark
gullies. Silence as storm and ship fought a mortal battle.
The storm lost; another battle won, by the old girl, four
ships had sunk in the same waters, we’re proud of her and
of Captain Olsen, but we never told him so. M/S “Kari”
rode the sea as a swan; it was her last battle, sold for scrap
iron and made into millions of coffin nails. Captain Olsen,
the great seafarer, was retired; land life didn’t suit him,
drowned in his own vomit. I can only hope that a some of
Kari’s nails were used on his coffin to make up for flowers
no one sent.