When The Ship Goes Down

A note from the auther:

This poem is quite ambiguous in some respects, as I intended. It concerns a young sailor on a ship, as it is taking on water and about to capsize. And then, something mysterious happens to him.....

When the ship goes down,

all you've got is yourself,

what use are you friends,

fame or wealth?

 

Join the scramble to the deck,

running too fast risks a broken neck,

you gasp for breath,

with the fear of imminent death,

 

fond and fearsome memories flood your mind,

with the smothering force of a closing tide,

was it worthwhile,

this struggle called life?

 

You trip and stumble as the deck draws near,

all around you is dread and fear,

fellow captives of modern life,

push and shove in the madness of flight,

 

Will you ever again,

witness the morning light?

but closer to hand,

is the bitter fight,

 

After time unknown you spy the sea,

will a watery grave be your destiny?

what other choice do you have?

 

Leap to your doom,

or for a lifeboat fight?

it's at this moment that you see the light!

 

Are you dreaming,

and where are the sounds,

of your fellow sailors in the here and now?

 

The light it shines with a brilliant gleam,

and the sea reflects it with a glorious sheen,

your head spins and eyes feel glazed,

what lieth behind this mystic haze?

 

It's only then that you realise,

what a relief can be found in an early demise,

as you feel the saviour in your heart,

and from this world feel glad to depart...

 

A Poem by  Julian Hawksworth

 

 

 
Posted by: on 04 July 2010

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