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Ode to the Porte St Louis

Written by An Unknown Sailor
The following poem was written by an unknown sailor on the Porte St Jean. If you are the writer, please e-mail me and I will give you proper credit.  It was originally titled Ode to the Porte St Jean, but since I was serving aboard her sister ship HMCS Porte St Louis, I changed the title.

 

Wakey, wakey rise and shine
Time to clean and time to dine
It’s been five long days
Since we all said goodbye land
And in just three more hours
It’s hello to Rhode Island

We have all chipped lots of rust
And scraped lots of paint
Well rested
Is certainly something we ain’t

We’ve all stood watch
For many an hour
And we’ all probably kill
For a really long shower

There’s been Tow Exs, fuelling
And manoeuvres by light
We’ve stood by for the Jean
Four times in one night

The weather has been good
It hasn’t rained much
We’ve had barbecues, seen statues
And cities and such

But it’s getting quite dull
We’ve had enough of the ocean
We have to get off
Stop this up and down motion

So when we have all been secured
After the C.O.s done rounds
We should all cross the brow
And pipe the ship out of bounds

Head into town
And get off of this boat
Put ourselves in surroundings
That don’t move or float

Forget the Navy, get drunk
Crash in some hotel lobby
Who cares! After all
It’s not a job, it’s a hobby

About the author

Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth served in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve for 13 years (1987-2000). He served with units in Toronto, Hamilton & Windsor and worked or trained at CFB Esquimalt, CFB Halifax, CFB Petawawa, CFB Kingston, CFB Toronto, Camp Borden, The Burwash Training Area and LFCA Training Centre Meaford.

Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/ode-to-the-porte-st-louis/

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