The Benevolence of Barnacles

Watching over the vessel with cold periscope eyes,
They partially bury the mine-damaged bow
Of the shadowy hulk that was lost for a century,
Tucked thirty metres deep below the North Sea.

In the windy gaze of a marram-swept coast,
Buoying crumbling bones in a crusty embrace,
Barnacles embellish the skin of the conning tower,
Fill redundant engines with quicksilver bubbles,
Jostle with sea snails, limpets and mussels
Cementing torpedo tubes and hatches
And the bleached jaws of the thirty five crew.

© Kim M. Russell, 2016

benevolence-of-barnacles

Image found on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-35370700 

My response to imaginary garden with real toads The Tuesday Platform

This week I’m sharing a poem I wrote as part of an on-line course. It was influenced by a creative writing workshop in which I was involved, focusing on the concept of acts of kindness in war. The BBC filmed us as part of a larger project and the result of the project, a film that includes clips of me and other writers reading poetry and prose, will be shown at Cinema City, Norwich on 11th November, then the Imperial War Museum and later on-line.

SM U-31 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I; she was engaged in naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. U-31 sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 13 January 1915 but disappeared shortly thereafter. It was correctly assumed that she had struck a mine and sunk somewhere in the North Sea.

 The wreck of U-31 was discovered in 2012 about 55 miles off the coast of East Anglia during surveys made in preparation for the construction of an offshore wind farm. However, the wreck was not formally identified until 9th September 2015, when a Dutch wreck-diving team discovered the hull number engraved on a salvaged item of navigation equipment.

26 thoughts on “The Benevolence of Barnacles”

  3. Chilling reality in this, Kim–augmented by the fact that it is in the North Sea. So tragic. I think it was in Norwich that my dad (who I never knew) was based. He was a B-24 pilot, KIA over Germany 1944 when I was 3 months old.

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      1. No. I would love to. It’s not long ago that I finally got details of his death. My mom remarried when I was 7 (to a widower) and they seemed to have an understanding not to speak of their first spouses. Only after he died did Mom ask me to research my dad’s death. I learned more than I would have wanted. War is so tragic. In any case, I would have to say that visiting Great Britain is at the top of my bucket list for many reasons. No travel planned now because of my mom’s hospice status.

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    1. Thank you, Kerry.
      I’m looking forward to seeing the film featuring one or two of the poems I wrote at the ‘Fiercest Light’ workshop, which inspired this poem, written as an assignment for an on-line course. I had been working at the workshop at the time and was very influenced by what I’d heard, seen and read.

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  8. I felt as if I was deep-sea diving through this poem right along with you — immersive & descriptive. Wonderful news about the film — Congratulations! I do hope to see it when it becomes available online. 🙂

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    1. The Fiercest Light workshop, which explored acts of kindness in war, was fascinating and I got to meet some interesting people. I was sad when ended but we’re getting together for the premiere of the film. 😊

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