The Fog of Certain Fate

[good4somethingbum]

The Fog of Certain Fate ©2016 Robert George BMI

Well, I grabbed a six pack and some fishing gear
Walked on down the bay side road toward my fav’rite pier
Passed the Navy graveyard and some crooked stones
Hopin’ last week’s earthquake didn’t unnerve the bones

I heard whale songs in the distance
And the moon hung low like bait
And the coastline shimmered silver
With the fog of certain fate

Well, I drained my second beer and waited on a bite
Then saw somethin’ on the shoreline that was red and white
I walked down and found a rib bone and a faded rag
I looked closer and that old cloth was a Nippon flag

And a cold mist rolled around me
As if time was somehow late
Then it moved up toward the graveyard
Like the fog of certain fate

That night I dreamt about the rising sun,
The forgotten depths it drifted from
And come the dawn I headed to old Chester’s seaside store
He said what I found was probably a prank,
Maybe so but I still bought a scuba tank
Charted me a boat and headed sev’ral miles offshore

His store’s been there since the forties
Some say Chester’s eighty--eight
He did pretty well avoiding
The fog of certain fate

I’d done my homework and researched the tides and winds
Found my spot and dove in with my goggles, tank and fins
Down and down I went through ancient brine and murk
Then I found it resting where seafaring myst’ries lurk

A battered Nippon U-Boat
Passed through hist’ry’s shrouded gate
As if it was depth-charged
By the fog of certain fate

I could see the fuselage was ripped and torn
Inside I found skeletons in tattered uniforms
A metal tube had maps of bases on the coast
Navy shipyards and coordinates of sentry posts

I found papers and a photo
Sealed inside a tiny crate
But that crate was no protection
From the fog of certain fate

I returned the boat as Chester closed up for the night
I’d decided to keep quiet till the time was right
Then a fog bank moved in that was icy, grey and thick
And right behind my head I heard an old revolver click

And my temple felt the nozzle
Of a steely .38
And the only thing that saved me
Was the fog of certain fate

The mist crawled down the chimney and beneath the door
Cold and clammy fingers grabbed the neck they’d come for
Chester screamed as he was pulled into the creeping mist
And that traitor paid his debt to Lucifer’s abyss

Was he offered gold and silver
Were his reasons spite and hate
Either way there’s no outlasting
The fog of certain fate

Well, I could’ve banked a little coin from what I knew
O but why reopen wounds from WWII
Cos that submarine was taken by forever’s tide
So I just let the water bridge the last divide

When I passed that Navy graveyard
All the stones were standing straight
And their voyage was now clear
From the fog of certain fate