April air was crisp, watercolour blue sky dashed with wispy clouds
Fateful day the almighty ship set sail from Southampton
Smoke billowed into the horizon, corrupting it's colour
Expanse turning towards grey as the vast liner cast aside its anchor
Tossed the ropes to the far winds, set sail on its maiden voyage
Slipping into the translucent waves, fading into the history book page
From the banks of the Lagan, watching loved ones float away.
Very height of luxury, epitome of wealth, Captain Smith could not conceive
'Any vital disaster' nor condition to 'cause a ship to founder'
'No ship's unsinkable' was the ignored outcry in response
Didn't dismay the vessel's owner, whose sole focus
Was prove the ship's reliability, arrive ahead of time
Even if you have to surge through the Atlantic, speed through ice-fields
Despite warnings of oncoming danger hovering in the depths.
Nine foreboding messages were sent out, reports including
'Bergs, growlers, and field ice' telegraphed April twelfth
Yet there was no notion to pause, hesitate or decelerate
Jessie had a vision of a sinking ship while Wally played on
Hours before the disastrous events unfolded
Meanwhile Stead's own novel predicted his death under the command
Of very same Captain Smith decades later
Hoards prophesying 'that ship is going to sink-
-Before it reaches America' disregarded.
Crew were deceived by the ocean's tranquility soon before midnight
Clear waters lead them to believe there'd be time to react
Time to avoid disaster
But when Fleet spotted the gleaming iceberg, little could be done
Bitter Atlantic frozen from secret knowledge
Withheld beneath the surface, lurking
Flying at full pelt, the ship could barely turn -
Maybe impressive grandeur was its downfall in the end
Confusion reigned as the lifeboats were lowered, taking off without full capacity
Had there been a drill at Southampton, hundreds more would've survived.
Only five minutes before the end, awful realisation struck
'Lights became dim and went out', water crept upwards
Overwhelmed the ship previously seen as unsinkable
Funnels broke free and crashed into the icy waters
Almighty vessel rose up in a desperate attempt to survive
Before plummeting to destruction
Leaving riches ruined, scattered across the seabed
Affluence attacked by the unforgiving elements
Possessions worth nothing when all is rusted, ravaged, eroded eventually.
Mournful violin carried across the soundless sea
Only melody played as the coffin is lowered
Tranquil turmoil ensued as lifeboats fought to get away
Music without rest until the waters rose and the ship slipped from sight
Ice grasping the notes in violent staccato
Boundaries broken by the sheer force of nature
Wealthy and struggling united despite a society thriving on division
Drawn together in death foreshadowing the ever-changing plot of history.
On the dank ocean floor, where only dust and ash exists
Lies the battered remains of the historical vessel
Lies the dull remains of a black and white era -
Britain helplessly clinging onto a golden age that's washed away.
LD x ~ 29/11/20
YOU ARE READING
Loudspeaker
Puisi'... are my words enough?' Many themes and issues run through this collection, interwoven with each other, knitted between poems, so much so this is less of a collections of poems more of a continuous narrative. When I write, I'm constantly inspired...
