Paradise was lost

Paradise was a place lost to the world
With exquisite beauty and peaceful scenes
With glorious mountains and streams
Poseidon established it
And built the city of concentric circles
To make it great
A place of legends, it was
Atlantis
A place of dreams



But it was not just for the gods to linger in
Humans shared this place
For the gods longed for company
Their generous gifts were uncounted
The beauty came directly from grace
There were few rules but those were iron clad
No slaves were held, no wars fought
But not long since their arrival
The humans became bored
For perfection and morals
Did not excite them



And soon they overthrew the gods
Cast off the rules
Gathered gold and went to war
For they meant to be gods themselves
And other humans, in a lesser state
Were but fools
Atlantean galleys and triremes cut through the seas
Their soldiers took slaves
Made them cook, clean, and serve
Unlike their own freedom
The rest of humans were not meant to be free



But as high as they placed themselves
Atlantis would soon come down
Eventually the angry gods returned
And cast down those who had rebelled
Covered the land with waves
And all of the glory was drowned
Only to be seen in memory
Legends and history
Today only the ravens watch
Where this land used to be

The Murmansk Run

The lifeline had to be extended
The Soviet people were wounded
Supplies to fight their own battles
Had to be sent
And to do that
Men had to travel through a frozen sea
During the summer sun
Of perpetual sunlight
Where the sun silhouetted their ships
So that Nazi U-Boats
Could lay in wait
And fire



Tons and tons of war goods
Allowed the Soviets to survive
But the cost was enormous
The frozen waters
Caused men to be die
Frozen in moments
When their ships would be sunk
And Luftwaffe planes
Filled the skies



No more than a minute in the waters
Could lead to death
Ships had to stay together
For when they were dispersed
They became lost
And the lifelines severed



The cold and sinister machinations
Of those who were bent to kill them
All led to tragedy
Upon the horizons
Of the frozen waters
Men bobbed like ice cubes
Covered in oil
And dead
To keep the Soviets in the war
Until their own system could recover
And pay back the Nazis
With vengeance
Anger
That was colder
Than the Arctic