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The Oceanfront was mine today.

I owned it every inch.

The sidewalks rolling in brickwork waves,

Were empty, only I walked there.

I've waited for this time of year;

No tourist crowds

The silence reigns. 

No one came to visit King Neptune

 but me.

They say it’s very cold

Now he knows me from the crowd,

From depths as frigid as the shroud

He brought forth stories well-told.

A ghost then rose from Neptune's realm

And whispered an ancient tale,

His people murdered by Powhatan,

They, prophesied to rule the land,

Were exterminated to women's wails.

“What’s this?” He moans.

“What people set their village on Chesapeake graves?”

“It’s called Virginia Beach,” I say.

“Where good folks come to sun and play

And ride the frothy waves."

Then lo, three ships of Spirit wood

And the voice of a man

Boots planted on the sand,

“This land for Protestants

For all souls' good.

Captain Christopher Newport

 Then I heard the new strangers

Grow many and strong

Overcoming the natives free,

Opening commerce over the sea

Until they became a mighty throng.

I looked again and saw more ghosts;

Another great ship approached the beach

Looking to plunder the merchant trade.

“Your gold!  Your treasure!  My fortune is made!”

Cried the terrible voice

Of Edward Teach.

Then I heard the howls of shipwrecked men

Drowning in the furious sea,

Awash in terror, no help in sight,

Crying for one more chance in the night,

To be with loved ones far away in their beds.

And I heard the weeping

Of seafarer’s wives

Hearts broken by Neptune’s cruel whims

I looked again and saw a light,

Guiding the sailors through the night.

Cape Henry Lighthouse now never

 dims.

Then a terrible battle was raised in the sea.

When De Grasse sailed to meet

The attacking British fleet,

Won the fight to be free.

Then it was 1812 and British frigates returned.

I heard a boom,

Saw clouds of black.

Another.  And another.  The earth trembled sore

In a little place called Sea Attack.

 The Merrimac and the Monitor

Warred in Chesapeake Bay

I listened to the thundering battle,

Saw furniture rock, heard teacups rattle,

As citizens watched for the outcome of the day.

With the bay a constant target,

Cape Henry was a worry.

To make fortifications

Was Taft’s recommendation

And so was built Fort Story.

Then German U-boats were lurking close

To Chesapeake Bay they came

I heard explosions off the shore

I knew the nation was again at war,

And our battleships their fair game.

The remains of the U-701 lie at the bottom of the ocean on Cape Hatteras

When all the battles and shouting faded

I said goodbye to the king.

He charged me then the stories to carry

He insisted I must no longer tarry

These tales to you to bring.

 And he pointed out

How the sea has determined;

How it's shaped again and again;

With the prize to the sea-skilled,

And the rule to the strong-willed,

The fate of the nation and the destiny of men.

King Neptune looked sad as he closed with these words.

“For the ocean is not my dominion these days.

Since man’s newest invention

To raise sea storms as weapons

Even we immortals are afraid of your ways.”