I've now got a couple of Burt Franklin Jenness's poetry books:

SEA LANES (p. 1921)
OCEAN HAUNTS (P. 1934)

And there's still another one out at sea: MAN O'WAR RHYMES (p. 1918).

Here's a nice one:

Poem by Burt Franklin Jenness
From OCEAN HAUNTS, edited by Burt Franklin Jenness,
Empire Publishing Co., New York, US, © 1934, P. 73.

Mid-Watches

Will you ever forget the mid-watches at sea?
How you tumbled out sleepy and dazed,
And though you maneuvered as still as could be,
Remember the chorus you raised
As you bumped into hammocks, or stepped on a mate
Who was caulking it off on the deck?
Then you hustled up forward for fear you'd be late,
Your pea-coat pulled snug 'round your neck,
And you climbed the old bridge and looked into the night,
And the wind and the spray stung your face;
While the stars overhead were all dancing and bright,
And the ship plunged away into space;
Can you ever forget the long tricks at the wheel;
All your thoughts and your plans and your fears?
The things you'd imagine – the dangers you'd feel,
As the creaks and the groans of the gears
Would make you snap out of some dream of the shore?
Or a comber would loom like a ship
Dead ahead, or you'd start at the crash and the roar,
As a beam-sea would hit her on a clip?
And didn't those hours seem lonelier, too,
When the moon and stars went to bed,
And it seemed like sometimes there was no one but you
Sailing into that black hole ahead?

Notes:

Here the poet is clearly remembering his experience aboard a World War 1 naval ship with his references to hammocks, pea-coat, and going forward to the bridge.

"Caulking it off" is old sailor slang for sleeping on deck. For inspections sailors would traditionally line up parallel to the caulked deck boards, and evidently when they were napping on deck they would do the same.

Here's a link to my website if you'd like to see how I've adapted this one for singing with a MP3 sample: Click here and search for lyrics!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble