The ships we sank with women and children aboard. The lifeboats we shelled. Mmm... we were good at that.

quote by Emeric Pressburger
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Wreck of the Indian Chief

'Twas on the 8th of January 1881,
That a terrific gale along the English Channel ran,
And spread death and disaster in its train,
Whereby the "Indian Chief" vessel was tossed on the raging main.

She was driven ashore on the Goodwin Sands,
And the good captain fearlessly issued hie commands,
"Come, my men, try snd save the vessel, work with all your might,"
Although the poor sailors on board were in a fearful plight.

They were expecting every minute her hull would give way,
And they, poor souls, felt stricken with dismay,
And the captain and some of the crew clung to the main masts,
Where they were exposed to the wind's cold blasts.

A fierce gale was blowing and the sea ran mountains high,
And the sailors on board heaved many a bitter sigh;
And in the teeth of the storm the lifeboat was rowed bravely
Towards the ship in distress, which was awful to see.

[...] Read more

poem by William Topaz McGonagall
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lifeboats Called Memories

Memories are lifeboats
When the sea of life
Knocks you overboard
For they can keep you from drowning
When saddness is all you can see

poem by David Kush
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lifeboats

The ship sinks.
And the naysayers on it,
Still have not blinked.
Those who praise themselves,
Are seen giving one another winks.
The ship sinks!
And even the captain...
Can not convince them,
Lifeboats have been created...
To enable them to survive and float.

The ship sinks.
And the naysayers on it,
Still have not blinked.
Those who praise themselves,
Are seen giving one another winks.
The ship sinks!
And even the captain...
Can not convince them,
Lifeboats have been created...

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

It Comes - Part 3

(It is suggested that the reader reads Parts 1 and 2 first)

Several marine biologists
now suggested that a giant squid
could be the creature that they were looking for,
but could not explain the blue light.
As a precaution to the present dangers below the equator,
ships were requested that they find suitable ports
to stay in overnight.
Naval Air forces from most countries
searched the seas at night and day
hoping to spot whatever was causing the disappearances.

Dr Roger Maitland of Oxford,
marine biologist now retired
studied the reports on the news.
He looked at charts
and read what the survivor of the Sulu Spray
had mumbled incoherently repeatedly.
He had his own theory about the creature,

[...] Read more

poem by David Harris
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

There is only room in the lifeboat of your life for one, and you always choose yourself, and turn your parents into whatever it takes to keep you afloat.

quote by Anna Quindlen
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The last three books are much more a case of a moment of history, what happened almost by accident or coincidence, like being in the same elevator or lifeboat.

quote by Michael Ondaatje
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Collision in the English Channel

'Twas on a Sunday morning, and in the year of 1888,
The steamer "Saxmundham," laden with coal and coke for freight,
Was run into amidships by the Norwegian barque "Nor,"
And sunk in the English Channel, while the storm fiend did roar.

She left Newcastle on Friday, in November, about two o'clock,
And proceeded well on her way until she received a shock;
And the effects of the collision were so serious within,
That, within twenty minutes afterwards, with water she was full to the brim.

The effects of the collision were so serious the water cduldn't be staunched,
So immediately the "Saxmundham's" jolly-boat was launched;
While the brave crew were busy, and loudly did clatter,
Because, at this time, the stem of the steamer was under water.

Then the bold crew launched the lifeboat, without dismay,
While their hearts did throb, but not a word did they say;
They they tried to launch the port lifeboat, but in that they failed,
Owing to the heavy sea, so their sad fate they bewailed.

[...] Read more

poem by William Topaz McGonagall
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Hold On To Me

This song appears on three albums, and was first released on different directions album, and has also been released on the john denver collection - take me home country roads album.
We were live on arrival
Safe home at last
No cannon fire dockside
No flags half-mast
We were sold out for siver
And a string of black pearls
On the loneliest island
At the edge of the world
Like destinys children
Souls lost at sea
No room on the lifeboat
You can hold on to me
Now the voyage is over
Were back on dry land
In our eyes are the stories
The rope and the brand
Like destinys children
Souls lost at sea
No room on the lifeboat

[...] Read more

song performed by John Denver
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

What Is It They Don't Understand?

Why haven't they boarded the lifeboats?

~They first wish to discuss,
Political correctness and social etiquette.
And what 'is' or isn't poetic.~

AND...
They 'are' aware of the ship sinking?

~They first wish to discuss,
Political correctness and social etiquette.
And what 'is' or isn't poetic.~

What is it they don't understand?

~They first wish to discuss,
Political correctness and social etiquette.
And what 'is' or isn't poetic.~

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Greatest Thing Happening On This Earth

Is it possible to turn this ship around?

'Sure.
Let's look on the bright side of this situation.
It should be a lot lighter to do this...
Since now the ship is under water.
And the passengers are faithfully waiting,
On the surface in their lifeboats.
Hoping we soon will return their ship!
And deliver it to them...
Wherever their mindsets may be! '

So there is a possibility?

'Sure!
Aren't we the greatest thing happening,
On this Earth? '

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Searing Heat

An ascetic dies in a shoe
spilling blood.
A surreal moon
wants to investigate –

a sectarian divide of
fraudulent sky.
And you want to be buried
under rose petals –

courting controversies
to clean the polluted river.
A lifeboat was needed
to take you for a quiz –

singing national anthem.
Emblematic,
You were sharpening
your nails.

poem by Satish Verma
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

To Show What a Man Can Do

There has been many a grander deed since man had life to give,
And thousands have gone to certain death, eyes open, that men might live;
And many have gone for their country’s sake, when their numbers were all too few,
And bravely died that their mates may die—to show what a man can do.

Now this is the song of La Bella wreck at the harbour of Warnambool,
And this is the song of a brave, brave man of the grand old simple school:
We all know the forces of circumstance, and we blame not the lifeboat crew—
But this is the song of a fisherman who showed what a man can do.

With a single scull in his strong young hands, and his brave young eyes aglow,
He shot his skill o’er the raging hell, where the lifeboat dared not go!
It was twice and thrice that he went again, and the lives they were only two—
But this is the song of The Man Who Knows, and can show what a man can do.

And we need such deeds in this world of ours, lest the hearts of men might fail—
Oh we need such deeds in this world of ours, and a man to tell the tale!
When the eloquent gestures come from the wreck, and never a word comes through—
Oh, we need such deeds in our land to-day to show what a man can do!

[...] Read more

poem by Henry Lawson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Remembering Titanic 100 Years

The tale couldn't have been written better
Like a great novel that really happened
Uncertainness in unknowable future
The spirit of end left a mind opened

The magnificence of the ship to match
Scale only by the folly of people
Who drove in hell through the darkness then switch
More lives of unthinkable possible

A detailed timeline of the ship's few days
A timeline of the last night of their life
Blossoming romance tragedy always
Hits a unconscious dream with a luck wife

The juxtaposition of rich and poor
The gender roles played out into the door

March 30,2012 Hormish Garden of Toronto 10: 00-12: 00 am

[...] Read more

poem by Hormish Woo
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

A frustrated Skipper on a sinking Vessel

You all have abandoned me
Never mind my dear crew.
I could see through my fungy telescope
Your tossing lifeboats faraway and the happy faces.
How do you grab the life tightly?
Rmember, I too grabbed since my childhood
But later on I realized it slips through your bony fingers.
Go home safely and live happily.
Please do not bother to buy a priceless coffin
Let it be a sea burial and let my flesh eat by small fish
As I have eaten half of them in the Ocean.
I hear the death murmurs like a Mermaid's voice
'Hello! Is that me you looking for? '
I gulped the last dropp of my bottle, The 'Bourbon Whisky'.

poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Thank God for Little Children

Thank God for little children,
Bright flowers by earth's wayside,
The dancing, joyous lifeboats
Upon life's stormy tide.

Thank God for little children;
When our skies are cold and gray,
They come as sunshine to our hearts,
And charm our cares away.

I almost think the angels,
Who tend life's garden fair,
Drop down the sweet wild blossoms
That bloom around us here.

It seems a breath of heaven
Round many a cradle lies,
And every little baby
Brings a message from the skies.

[...] Read more

poem by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Like You In The Mirror!

let me be...
the bridge, the cup,
the lifeboat, the beacon.
the open hand offered,
the shovel, the saw.
the house left open,
the fire built to share.
the cool rag on the forehead,
the silence that heals.
the field waiting to turn,
the plow, and the mule.
the coat, the hat,
the blanket and the bed.
the ear with a face,
the face with a heart.
the heart that looks
like you in the mirror!

poem by Eric Cockrell
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

A Titanic Loss.

A titanic loss
Near countless rivets
Mountains of coal, to heat and form and melt
Blood, sweat and lives to match the pride that was felt
Lavishly fitted out, no expense spared
Many hundreds to experience the virgin berths
Excitement and celebrations as they board the biggest ship on earth
Stupendous, colossal....titanic
They were not to know of the horror and panic
In that icy sea with no help to come
Insufficient lifeboats with only room for some
The dignity with which they met their end
Husbands and wives, family and friends
In The deepest grave to be laid to rest
After being found they'll be left where they are..we know its best.

poem by Brian Roy Skyers
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

All Nations Are Held Accountable

A poet or politician or singer
of truly global stature proportions
cannot be provincially or nationally
restricted dynamics of global problems
politics demand efforts be made on truly
humanitarian scale planet earth is voicing wake
up call all nations are held accountable at ransom
under strip thin blue band veil of earth shared atmosphere
all life all souls in same lifeboat outcast so stop rocking de boat!

poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

To Flee From Their Own Willfulness

Will there be a scramble for lifeboats and flights,
When the seriousness of life...
Finally dawns in those minds that have blinded truth,
From their eyesight.
Will the absence of logic instantly find common sense?
And where will folks go,
To flee from their own willfulness...
That implemented the spreading of a successful ignorance.

Will people stop to pack luxuries,
In leather bound suitcases and branded designer bags?
And where will they take their 'priceless' items...
To isolated islands where the beaches are free of oil slick?
And where will they take their mindsets that are somewhat sick?
As they seat aboard exclusive spaceships,
Heading to other planets in beliefs...
To repeat their wickedness will bring to them relief!

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!