This poem pre-dates the grounding incident. It was writen underway during a very difficult time for me. It's premise is that there are greater things to lose for one's country than one's life. It also speaks of the endurance and sense of duty that compels some to risk those things on behalf of those who won't.
We are the makers of the peace forged in the fires of Hell,
filled with an inner torment of which no man can tell,
for only those who've been here could ever feel this way,
and as for submariners, we do not speak of pain,
of families we no longer have and lives we do not lead.
We take it all in silence, we've forgotten how to bleed.
Fighting our silent war with a thousand silent graves,
in a steel coffin, adrift beneath the waves.
So revel in the peace, all our countrymen ashore,
as we silent warriors go once again to war.
Our losses, they may be too high, perhaps we should refrain,
but as for submariners, we would do it all again.