The Snowflake That Sank the Titanic

It all begins with a single snowflake
(Each one in itself unique)
Brought about through evaporation
And returned by the force of gravity
In the form of snow to the planet
To rest on the Greenland ice sheet
Some fifteen thousand years ago.
Snowflakes multiplied trillions of times over,
Piled on top of each other, and compacted
Until the sheer weight of the conglomerate
Resulted in a glacier formation.
It crept west to the Arctic coast,
Where a piece broke off
(Calved, as it’s called)
To begin a two-year voyage
(A thousand miles overall),
Floating south to the Atlantic Ocean.

Destiny and coincidence make appearances
Throughout history, without explanation
As to time and place, and events that follow
The RMS Titanic departed
Southampton for New York Harbor,
On the tenth of April 1912, in the year of Our Lord,
With two ports of call in between,
France and Ireland, before the crossing,
As the iceberg entered the shipping lanes
Of the North Atlantic.
Both were bound on a collision course
Of tragic consequence.
Titanic’s lookout reported,
“ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!”¹

And so, they collided on that fateful night,
The block of ice and the ocean liner,
As recorded in the annals of history:
April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m. ship’s time.
The Western Union telegram received reads,
“CQD CQD SOS SOS = FROM MGY (RMS TITANIC)
We have struck iceberg = Sinking fast = Come to our assistance.
Position: Lat 41.46 N. = Lon 50.14 W.”²

The Titanic sank in two and a half hours
On April 15, 1912, at 2:20 a.m.,
Four hundred miles south of Newfoundland.
The director of the White Star Line wrote,
“Deeply regret [to] advise you
TITANIC sank this morning fifteenth
after collision [with] iceberg,
resulting in serious loss [of] life.
Further particulars later.”³

The infamous iceberg tips and rolls,
Melting away and then is no more.
Hence, from the ocean borne
And to the ocean returned.
From the Belfast shipyards to New York City
(Built of steel and rivets and coveted luxury),
The White Star Line vice-president stated
(When he learned that the Titanic was in trouble),
“We place absolute confidence in the Titanic.
We believe the boat is unsinkable.”⁴
A shallow boast costing fifteen hundred and seventeen lives,
The unsinkable sinks: seven hundred and six people aboard survive.
RMS Titanic lies in pieces
On the ocean floor.
***

Notes:
¹ "Iceberg Right Ahead": On April 14, 1912, at 11:03 p.m., Frederick Fleet (from the Titanic’s crow’s nest, aka lookout) sighted an iceberg straight ahead and rang the lookout bell three times to warn of what he had seen, and then telephoned the ship’s bridge and spoke these famous words, “Iceberg right ahead.” Radar, as yet, had not been invented. Thirty-seven seconds later, at 11:40 p.m. on that fateful night, the RMS Titanic struck the iceberg.
² Telegram from RMS Titanic to SS Birma, April 14/15, 1912 (11:45 p.m.); Cgd – Sos. from M.G.Y. [CQD and SOS are distress codes: CQD—"Come Quick Distress,” SOS—no meaning but for the ease of use of Morse code (three dots, three dashes, three dots); and M.G.Y. was the radio call sign for the Titanic].
³ J. Bruce Ismay (1862–1937), director of the White Star Line and Titanic survivor, sent the telegram via the Marconi from aboard the RMS Carpathia on April 17, 1912.
⁴ White Star Line Vice-President P.A.S. Franklin (1871–1939) made this statement when he learned that the RMS Titanic was in trouble. The Titanic lay on the bottom of the Atlantic when he spoke these words.

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