"The Day She Docked"
The day she docked, momentum was so great
When she lost power, propellers could not brake;
She just came on one mile an hour or so,
Into the shore such silence ’fore the blow.She took the dock, made kindling of its deck;
Took out the street, which could not stop the wreck;
It stopped at last, prow buried deep within
Apartment house, where silence could begin.Such was the end – both yesterday and now;
Mum’s life was like momentum of that prow;
I got the call, first pebble crunch it was;
It did not phase as I looked on, because –It was the start, not ending of that wreck;
The mighty one, with ballast ‘neath her deck;
She was not flashy, scudding o’er the waves –
A freighter, more, with “wait’ throughout her days.We scurried ’round, those minutes ’fore she stopped,
To minimize the effect of ship on rocks;
The silence screamed within the deafening noise –
Mate’s helplessness before the coming void –Life would go on for skipper and for crew;
She’d have her life beyond, though we all knew
It would be different there from here below;
And us? On other voyages we’d go.But yesterday was time from pebble flick
Until she stopped, when no one heard the tick
Of time elapse – suspended there in time –
Those fourteen hours of loss beyond her mind.We like to think that folks should weighty be;
We like the concept – freighting o’er the sea
As laden ships, great stores beneath our decks –
Here’s one, my friends, lost power, and hence this wreck.Thanks Lord for this.
navigation