SEAL candidates recite US poet Laureate Ada Limon’s “The Endlessness”.
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, BAHRAIN - A SEAL squad member embarked upon the USS Lake Erie (CG 70) won accolades and raised eyebrows with a poem that both tugs at human heartstrings and possibly discloses national security information.
As part of the Aegis cruiser’s first “Siegfried Sassoon Poetry Slam,” Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Zohar Perez of the ship’s SEAL anti-piracy squad took first place among several entries for his haiku:
“Darkest of deserts
The order came from the Prez
Tears streak my camp”
“It chokes you up,” said Commander Mickey Jervis, commanding officer of the Lake Erie. “The imagery is powerful, poignant and he dimed-out the entire chain of command up to the President in three lines.”
Security officials view the poem through a more critical lens. A 5th Fleet security manager stated that any description of sensitive operations needs proper clearance, “even if it is incredible, eye-watering, snot-blowing prose.”
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