“With courage nothing is impossible” Sir William Hillary, a retired soldier and founder of the RLNI
A trawler's in distress at sea
It’s sinking, the crew cannot flee
A mayday message reads “Rescue me”
Their lives are at risk, as you can see
Brave lifeboat men will never tire
From aiding ships, some on fire
To save those at sea they do aspire
These volunteers I much admire
All lifeboat crew are very brave
Each year many lives they save
Like surfers caught by a freak wave
Preventing deaths in a watery grave
Mayday!
Mayday!
This heavy heart is drowning me
I'm distressed and in a panic
And so far away from shore
Call the coast guard!
Send out an SOS!
I'm not equipped to say goodbye
In unchartered waters, you left me behind
Alone
To navigate your stormy seas
We are in this boat together
Sailing across the bay.
Some have an easy voyage,
The wind is blowing their way
I wish I could always be sailing
Across an ocean with you
And never reach the other side
though it may be in view.
I want to see the sunrise
Across the dappled sea.
The ripples of the water
Reveal a new world to me.
One day this boat will reach the shore
Unless destroyed by storm
And I shall have to leave your arms
Where I have been so warm.
So just before we get there
I wanted you to know
That I shall always love you
Wherever you may go.
The call goes out , the sirens sound
Crew face the angry sea
The heart beats faster, fear is found
Out there, there is no lea
Look past the bow, there is no lull
All windblown by the gale
Out in the boil, a windswept hull
Our mission must not fail
We see the craft, it's motor dead
The crew give us a wave
But they still feel the oceans dread
It's them we came to save
A rope is fired from boat to boat
We have to keep it tight
A man falls in, he will not float
We'll not lose one tonight
The crew hold tight, the crossing made
We take them down below
The drink we give, warm lemonade
Then safely home we go
JUST ERASE ME
A SIDE NOTE
I AM NOT THE ONE
WITH THE PIECES
I PULL APART
SHATTER AND BREAK
I CAN'T HOLD YOU UP
TO THE LIGHT
JUST LET GO
THERE IS NO ROOM
FOR TWO
ON THIS LIFEBOAT.
2015
Asteroid on track
Its trajectory plotted for 6 months.
Due at noon tomorrow,
when planet earth will be smashed.
Humans on earth will be rendered extinct.
All efforts to nudge the asteroid
out of harm's way failed.
All nuclear weapons on earth
sent by rocket failed to make a dent.
Last rocket to Mars
departs in 2 minutes flat.
One tiny bag stuffed with memories,
is all each one of the lucky ones can take.
My ticket sheer luck in the ballot.
Others have tickets via swaps with love ones.
Some people even bought them!
Some were stolen, huge fight ensued.
There is no coming back.
Human destiny now lies in space
Earth is home no more.
But, it will be remembered.
My little lifeboat is sinking-
oh no, I spot a hole!
Which gets me to thinking
was it ever really whole?
The water is becoming rougher,
the port begins to crack.
Now it seriously suffers,
that straw broke the camel’s back.
The sea is very thirsty
and it needs its drink now,
my little lifeboat begs for mercy,
but the sea has made its vow.
I try to patch each problem
as if it can be mended,
because dying on the ocean’s bottom
was definitely not intended.
My little lifeboat made a mistake
and it is paying a hefty price.
I can hear my little lifeboat break
as I watch its beauty slice.
The sea swallows its victory
as a victor should
my little lifeboat knew its destiny
before I ever could.
By: Chelsea P. Stone
“Life in a Lifeboat”
Some rant of thirst and death
Some suffer in solitary silence
Some drink the waves and grow delirious
Some dream of rainwater and a cool wind
You ask, ‘Why should we care:
All will end up
as sordid, decaying flesh
floating on the vast, deep, blue, empty swells?’
Do not rue our all-too-tiny time to live.
Let not harsh reason over-shadow the mystery of life.
For if this fragile body be the very whole life,
then we were born to fill this sacred moment, now,
with harmony and grace;
And find a space between heaven and here
where our snowflake selves can briefly thrive.
That, when nightfall does surely follow,
The world is better left.
© GILES SCOTT (2016)
I watched her drown i watched her fade
I tried to tell my eyes, 'its made'
I lied my tears, "it isn't time, you can stay"
But the lie was caught, they started flowing away..
Tear by tear started rolling and dropped
One tear met the ocean and dissolved
The ocean then crying said to me,
"Oh sailor! Wipe your tears, I'm sorry
I never knew such a day would exhibit
I would be blamed as the murderer of your ship"
Suddenly, I realised I have a lifeboat aghast
Floating for me in the ocean scary and vast
She seemed as my dead ship's perfect clone
An order from the gods, to deny me die alone
The savior of my life, she became my mast
She made me reach the shore, gave a reason to last..
Today, I am not just a piece of meat
Death could be cheated, my heart still beats
She's the reason I am a proud father's face
Today, she takes her mother's place..
The thing about writing is that you have to organize your deck
Putting the marina ghosts locked inside the captain’s head
And when the itchy comes the breakers will stop
So you can finally see lightness in feelings, words and thoughs
They need to be filled, to be told
But, sometimes, you don’t have a story or a punchline to hold
My job it’s to write; it’s to feel the need for visualization
But life wants landscapes, reality and comprehension
I know he’s listening to the jazz music
And seeing the bubbles popping out of his glass of champagne
The pain from his brain doesn’t make him sane and vain
No, not today
I love that boy too much to bring him to my reality, thou
So, that’s just how things roll
No morals or good remedy from happy endings this night
I can tell that we need to emerge through dark profundities from time to time…
But do you think we might?”
Lifeboat men so brave............
A personal tribute to the man and woman of the R.N.L.I.
"The Royal National Lifeboat Institute".
Bravest men amongst the brave,
The lifeboat volunteers.
Precious people saving lives,
As they've done for many years.
Through the waves of raging water,
Being battered by the storm.
These precious people saving lives,
Heroes one and all.
Being called in all conditions,
Whether sunshine, snow or rain.
Never knowing what's ahead,
Or will they see their homes again!!!
Hurricanes and twenty foot waves,
Smashing at your soul.
Dedicated lifeboat men,
With a never ending goal.
So many crewmens lives been lost,
Still many lives they save.
Always putting themselves at risk,
These lifeboat men so brave.
To the R.N.L.I. volunteers,
With such courage there's only few.
May the seasons always bring you home,
As the Lord watches over you.
Lifeboat
you must not sink
please save me from my fate
love cannot keep me from drowning
in tears
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