Featured Poem: Steam

I gave fire a personality in my featured poem Fire. This time, I've given it a daughter. My new poem, Steam, continues the story of fire, but with a distinctly nautical twist. During my Navy years aboard fuel-powered aircraft carriers, I learned to appreciate the tremendous power generated deep within those great ships.

Far below the flight decks, fire and water joined forces to produce the steam that turned massive turbines and drove thousands of tons of steel across the oceans. It also provided the power to the catapaults that launched the jets from the flightdeck above.

I remember one incident when a steam relief valve above an enclosed gangway decided to let loose at a particularly unfortunate moment. Our carrier was anchored off Malta, and we were hosting visiting dignitaries and their families. Among our distinguished guests was an admiral's wife, who happened to be ascending the gangway just as the valve discharged. She received an unexpected steam bath, courtesy of the United States Navy.

Those were the days when hairspray was an essential part of women's fashion, and elaborate hairdos were expected to withstand almost anything. Unfortunately, no hairspray ever invented was a match for a Navy steam relief valve. By the time the poor lady reached the deck, her once-impressive coiffure had surrendered unconditionally. She looked decidedly wilted.

So steam, like its fiery parent, demands respect. Confined and controlled, it's a faithful servant. Unleashed, it can become a deadly adversary. And somewhere between those extremes lies the ingenuity of the sailors who harness its power.

Steam

We steam our ship on flashed seawater

Born from fire, its hissing daughter

Our boilers roil, belch, and scream

To churn the seas beneath our beam

We hold that fire confined inside

Where heat and pressure both collide

And as the steam through piping spews

It turns the shafts and drives the screws

Deep in the ship, below the decks

Where heat and noise demand respect

Watchstanders tend their telling gauges

As steam obeys its own iron cages

The turbines spin with mighty force

To drive our vessel on its course

While far above, the sailors sleep

As steel and steam command the deep

Yet steam, like fire, must be restrained

Its awesome power closely chained

For should a valve or fitting fail

Its scalding breath will then prevail

And if that fire escapes its hold

With oily smoke to choke and scold

We rush with hoses, foam, and spray

To drive the hungry flames away

For fire and water, joined as one

Can do what neither could have done

They drive great ships across the sea

And serve the hands that keep them free

But neither fire nor steam can know

What their powers bestow

It's mortal hands that hold the key

To tame their strength upon the sea

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