Unrest amidst these recent ruins,
abandoned shells of concrete rooms;
gray walls, gray clouds, gray misted woods,
dampened air of palpable gloom.

Who walks along these musty halls?
Whose shadows flit across the walls?
A voice from sometime far away…
whose name is it he softly calls?

Whispered tales of haunting ghosts:
a soldier loathe to leave his post,
a submariner from World War Two
who shelled this battery from off the coast.

Strange sightings, chills, and eerie sounds.
Some say a night watchman guards the grounds,
an infantryman from the Civil War,
lantern swinging as he makes his rounds.

Whoever within these walls abide,
be they visiting spirits from the other side,
or mere figments of imaginative minds,
I leave it for you to weigh and decide.

Battery Russell is located in Fort Stevens State Park on the Oregon Coast. For more information about the history of the fort, please visit the Friends of Old Fort Stevens website.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge