PREMONITION
I lay on the deck,
The cool steel under my neck,
The stars above,
the sea below,
The ship rocking to and fro,
As the ship goes forward,
My thoughts turn homeward,
To the mischievous ways
Of my boyhood days.
Fate has now taken the helm,
Steering us into an unknown realm.
Death lurks high on the mast,
Waiting for a die to be cast…
Mario Machi,
October 18, 1941,
Aboard ship en route to the Philippines.