The Most Secret Window, Excerpt pages 23-25
 

                               2
                               I

From the hilltop, Grayson's view was clear,
Of San Francisco's bay of sapphire water
Holding open its soft and yielding palm
To the swiftly sinking ship;
Heavy with the cargo of a thousand shores,
She listed to her side, a languishing lover...
Sensuous, in the dreamy laps of death.
 

                               2
                               II

A balmy crowded air of hearts
Was throbbing through the mental storm
Of horror sharp and unforewarned.
His sailors fought upon the dock
With worn-out, painful grinding fists
As Grayson moved towards their violence.
“That wasn’t no accident, Sir!” they blurted,
When Grayson saw his men engaged
Who at his sight let loose their rage,
“They came at us full head o’ steam,
And us without a loaded gun,
Into her heart, their bow ripped a seam!
The cries of men inside her was her scream…”
 

                               2
                               III

They were saturated with depths of hatred
That were so prolonged and unforgiving
That their tears flowed like water over their pain
Without ever being able to wash it away.
More than their fists were gouging into their foes,
Knives whipped till lives were skewered on the tips--
When the captain pushed forward, his wide shoulders flaring
A path before him, his eyes were wild to slaughter
And Grayson moved with him, as strong men determined
To rip away and rescue what sailors remained.
Grayson’s men were parted and pulled toward the land,
While cursing and fighting through their hatred and fear,
Violent, infuriated and forced refugees
Surprised, and sunk in the calm of home port seas.