The Silence of the Deep; growing up

Growing up the military life is all that we knew. Our father was a career Navy man who
during World War II was stationed in Norfolk, Va. We lived aboard the base and I can
still remember many nights the lights would go off and the search lights would scan the
darkened night. Mama would make us get under the bed and we usually slept there.
Although there were several U-Boats sighted off our shores, we were never attacked.
After high school, I too went on active duty and retired from the Navy. I too had a tour
of duty in Norfolk in the late 1960's and visited the places we use to live.

The Silence of the Deep!
By L. Don Oliver

A gentle refreshing sea breeze,
Waves splashing upon the shore;
Seabirds soaring above me;
A beautiful new world to explore;

In the shadows of my soul,
The world above me asleep;
Slipping slowly beneath the waves,
Into the silence of the deep;

Serenity of quite solitude,
Rainbow creatures swimming by;
Lovely flowering coral reefs,
One is thankful to be alive;

Where there's rhyme and reason,
No imperative schedule to keep;
Controlling my own destiny,
In the silence of the deep;

Bubbles from a fissure below,
Up from the darkened steep;
At peace with the world,
In the silence of the deep;

When life has passed me by,
Broken dreams never to mend;
Things that I once enjoyed,
Ever winding down to end;

If to die on the morrow,
With promises to ever sleep;
I pray thee my final rest,
In the silence of the deep;