Ode to the Norris

By: Bob Moran TM/2C '50-'54

When first I saw you long ago,nested snug in sasabo

And saw your mighty 38's and heard your mournful bell,

Your long gray lines ran fore and aft and ore the nest

Your shadow cast, an eerie silhouette as twilight fell.

I stood in awe at what I saw and knew not what to do,

When a bos'n chief on the quarterdeck, bid me "Join the crew".

This simple boot, this raw recruit , not even yet a man,

Was called to serve his country on a ship they called a can.

I didn't really know it then, just how this can and I would blend,

But it became a part of me as I began my life at sea.

Now I've heard they changed your duty station, sent you to another nation,

Changed your name, and the colors that you flew.

It's hard for me to realize, she's in the hands of other guys.

I wonder if she has a worthy crew.

was it my youth that I recall, the ship, the crew, the bos'ns call?

All faded now on a foggy misty sea.

Reunions now are all that's left, and those of us that pass the test

Of father times' insistent quest, are not the same as once we used to be.

So, clean out the coffee bucket guys and have a cup of joe,

And watch with me on the quarterdeck before I have to go.

And when at last my watch is ore and I here that angel chorus,

I hope to sail through heaven's sky on the 859, the Norris.