Why a poem keeps them goin’ in the US Navy
It’s U.S. Navy tradition that the first entry of the new year in ship logbooks be written in verse.
Some sailors angle for the job as a chance to inject a bit of personality – even poetic depth – into a format that otherwise discourages it; others try to avoid such a mission.
To delight readers in rhyme is no easy task – particularly given that deck logs are also legal documents. By Defense Department mandate, they must convey less-than-lyrical details about things like commanders on duty
