i saw several waterspouts in my time at sea, at least a dozen, maybe more. The one i wrote about here was when i was as officer of the deck (OOD) on the USS LUCE (DLG 7). The beginning occurred about a half hour into my watch off the port bow, and as i mention, about two leagues away, or about half way to the horizon (Luce’s horizon was roughly seven miles from the bridge) in the Navy Operation Areas (OP AREAS) a couple hundred miles off the Virginia Coast. It was on the first dog watch before i was relieved for the evening mess…and yes, it was eerily beautiful.

first dog watch
gray day at sea
gray sky
gray sea
gray horizon
gray ship
different hues of gray
beauty not expected
the calm before the storm
to the horizon
where the earth
disappears to nothingness;
‘bout two leagues from
that horizon
a disturbance begins
in the nimbostratus clouds
rainclouds;
a small nodule nudges its way
beneath a long swath
of cloud, darker
continuing to extend
toward the sea,
extending more
it appears as a funnel;
then another node forms
directly beneath
on the black-gray surface of the sea
extending upward;
the nodule from the sea
grows upward into a small funnel;
as the two move and sway
extending
now more like fingers
narrow, scrawny fingers
growing upward and downward
reaching, reaching
until they touch:
a water spout
eerie
strangely beautiful:
the sea and the sky
gray
touching each other.

the beach was wide and long,
a perfect place for the beach goers
to gambol in the surf and white sand,
sunny, warm, romantic
but
not today,
no, not today.
today is bleak, not cold like
east coast cold,
overcast, cool, misty,
bleak;
the older couple walk next to the surf,
holding hands;
the man, older than his woman,
has begun to show a bit of a shuffle;
life has begun to look like the beach,
not the sunny, gamboling place for frolic
but
bleak, harsh winds,
overcast, cool, misty;
even in his sea time years before,
he always thought this type of sea day
was beautiful,
enchanting in its own way
and
he had coaxed her into their walk today;
their love no longer held the passion
of earlier days,
replaced by something more permanent:
togetherness, eternal togetherness,
the strongest love of all
and
walking in the bleak overcast, cool, misty,
they remembered,
yes, they remembered
and
they would not forget.