Doug Blair ADMIN II
CCW GOLD MEMBER POETRY CONTEST WINNER Posts : 644 Age : 73 Join date : 2013-02-03 Location : Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| Subject: Ship of Ships Sat May 18, 2013 8:12 am | |
| Ship of Ships
(April, 1912)
It is sinking
Irreversibly.
Whistles abate.
Bells diminish.
The chuggings of
Lower quarters
Grind and wheeze.
Rowings are heard
‘Gainst the waves.
Tempo setting in.
Lifeboats all dispatched.
But too few.
Friends call to each other
Cross the darkness.
Deck fires paint a cracked
Flash on the brine.
Great ship lists
Horribly
To the fore.
Stragglers and those resigned
Sit at lounge chairs,
Awaiting inevitability.
Hands held.
“I love you” spoken.
One baleful voice
Cries through the fog
(As if alone, where
Crowds had just streamed,
Voices discordant.)
“Herbert, dear,
I’m waiting for you.”
Atlantic cold
Clarifies the strains
Of small orchestra.
Dignified departure.
Debussy.
And this had been
The Ship of ships.
Frigid saline fingers
Thanking the ice;
Grabbing more and more
Of its girth.
Pulling it down.
|
|
oneagleswings ADMIN II
CCW GOLD MEMBER CCW SUPPORTER 2X POETRY CONTEST WINNER Posts : 4323 Age : 64 Join date : 2011-08-30 Location : south carolina
| Subject: Re: Ship of Ships Mon Jun 10, 2013 3:17 am | |
| How many are sinking right now? |
|