K-141
Captain Lieutenant Dimitri Kolesnikov
in the ninth section of Kursk K-141,
silence, stale air, shivering cold,
of dim, dwindling hopes for any salvation.
Blue pen and paper, scrawling a note
(They would have loved words easy to quote,
explaining why, this Messianic boomer,
cruising at depth, off the Kola Peninsula…)
His last entry ends: ‘My regards to all.’
Lower down: ‘There’s no need to be desperate.’
With these chosen words, he echoes great
writers at home, who have fallen
too early in the day, a full pen in hand,
nothing left to be said, but dreams of dry land.
(An extract from Splitting Apart, Part 4 Quinn)