Too many people made safety decisions based on beauty
iceberg takes out over a thousand people
Titanic continues to give me nightmares
a real disrespect toward second class passengers
naval officers going down with the ship
illustrious luxury, plunging into the sea
chosen few were given seats on lifeboats
Since it was founded over 200 years ago the RNLI has saved over 146,000 lives at sea, often putting themselves in great danger, I salute those brave men and women, those guardian angels of the sea.
Quote by poet.
The R.N.L.I is an old institution,
of volunteers who save lives at sea,
of them I have nothing, but admiration.
Six hundred of them have died tragically
since its formation two hundred years ago,
always remembered for their selfless bravery.
They venture out in heavy rain, fog, and snow
with hurricane force winds and 70-foot waves,
only experienced crew are chosen to go.
Many volunteers lie in watery graves
often taking risks that end in tragedy
brave men and women, heroes of the waves.
The lifeboats are a registered charity
and survive because of your generosity.
The dream
taken seriously
but never myself
Whose course
is replotted
as ice starts to melt
Life an
eternal
shipwreck of hope
But lifeboats
sit waiting
— where wishes refloat
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
They left Southampton with a coal fire down below,
Olympic class of the White Star Line, little did they know.
Irish-built in Belfast, one iceberg was all it took as,
with insufficient lifeboats, the whole wide world it shook.
Departing Queenstown, compartments not all watertight,
unsinkable or so they said, until that tragic night...
(almost a six-day cruise).
She was poorly equipped and, as all good Captains do
(tho' that is not his due), Edward Smith
(and fifteen hundred souls or more)
went down with the ship.
And the band played on as the ship was going down,
were they blind (drunk?), out of their minds,
they were all about to drown.
Some thought 'Bravery,' others, 'Stupidity,'
(altho' cold as ice), I can say, quite categorically,
I would have jumped ship if it were me.
Tho' it's a deep subject, rock-bottom at very best,
the play on Broadway (take a bow) you won't see,
of lost lives and broken hearts
is... 'The Titanic, In Two Parts'.
In the world of control..The scheme goes like
This..theres always a 'HIGHLIGHT' on what
You might miss? What might be taken.? What
You can save.? In 2020 the theme was really
Hard played.' You might loose your life? Or
Your standing with friends.' It was first to the
Lifeboats ' Do you remember 'the trends?'
What might you loose? Well some took a
Chance.' First we lost all the shallow folk yet
Others stood fast.' We lost out on the loans
That must be paid back.' On the various poisons, yet have no sense of a lack.' We lost
Fear of some un-known; and invisible things?
Some accepted Jesus, and lost all the old sin,
Death got lost also.' And looking around! Considering all
Of the loosing, I'm amazed at what was found.!!
I wore my mind like a corset—tight, laced, unseen—
while the world asked me to smile with lipstick teeth
and stir the soup without stirring the storm inside.
There were mornings I woke as if embalmed,
already dressed in the hush of death's silk slip,
no reason, no riot—just a fog that would not lift.
The walls of my room pulsed like veins
and the mirror whispered lies in a female voice:
You are failing. You are too much. You are not enough.
I was the soft thing breaking beneath
a century of silence stitched into my sex,
taught to hush the howl and cradle the ache.
My hands shook when folding towels.
My heart stuttered at the scent of soap.
There was no name then for the madness.
Just "hysteria," like a curse tucked under my skirt,
and doctors who told me to marry or pray.
No pills yet. No lifeboats. Just poems or the end.
So I chose the door
that closed softer than the others.
Not for drama—
but for rest, for mercy,
for the silence to finally match
the silence within me.
If I'd been born later, maybe
there'd be lithium instead of letters.
But time gave me verse,
and verse gave me wings too torn to fly.
Need there’s to smile nor cry in life,
What will, will by and by in life.
Bank to bank lifeboats ply in life,
Still, the same boats must die in life.
One must swim, cannot fly in life
Whilst sorrows do defy in life.
Think, what to sow, not sigh in life
If rainy gets the sky in life.
To unknot tangled tie in life,
Nigh silent should one try in life.
______________________
Ghazal |08.07.2025| life, philosophy
Note: Both the lines of all the couplets of this ghazal have a rhyme (qaafiya) and refrain or recurrence (radeef).
The Titanic
A ship unsinkable
The aftermath unthinkable
A ship with all the avion’ and majesty
The voyage from Southampton in British waters
There was a couple, IDA AND ISIDOR STRAUS of particular interest
They were connected to MACY’S DEPARTMENT STORE as CO-OWNERS
Their love was always united in sophistication and splendor
Devastation would take a certain turn
The Titanic just hit an iceberg and was now being to sink
The Ship’s Captain and his mates ordered the woman and children into the lifeboats
IDA STRAUS refused to depart from her husband, ISIDOR
She quoted these words, “I will not be separated from my Husband as we have lived so shall we die together”
As the Titanic sank ever so close to the bottom of the seas, they were on deck together holding arm in arm being forever love will always live on in the Heavenly skies
Love being the lookout and uplifted
The many passengers that departed with the wounds taken with them with life extended into a new life
A Solomon quote, “Many waters cannot quench love, but neither can the floods drown it”
Titanic mission fulfilled but not complete.
“Friends are the lifeboats, that save
us, in the ravages of life’s storms!”
3/14/2024
What is the noise I hear,
could it be a loud cheer?
Oh no my dear,
we must leave and go the ship's rear.
Looks like the lifeboats are all gone,
the stars and moon are out before dawn.
We must not be afraid,
just listen to the music being played.
Maybe we should say our good-byes,
guess this new ship was not a great prize.
Do you really think we will die,
you are my girl and I am your loving guy.
Take this love note and my pen,
my darling one day we will meet again.
Themed distractions, affairs a boulevard,
as elbowed are divided from their minds.
Aloof, queues succeed a ship calling card,
as untrained get on, moons all exit signs.
The General Slocum, dressed to the nines
--churchgoers being passengers adorned.
Petite girls, bulky boots-dresses confines,
a spark burning as the captain is warned.
Crew-covered ears as the shrieking arose,
clung rails ... faith enables those disabled,
backing from charring ensue panic throes,
river rips donning death ... apt tests fatal.
Swimmers valueless o'er a thousand died.
Lifeboats? Vest hopeless; the firm denied.
NIGHTMARE
Here I stand at the rail of Titanic,
Watching the turbulent water below.
A voice in the dark shouts, “Do not panic”,
Which merely causes the panic to grow.
And now there are lifeboats battling the seas;
Women and children huddled together.
Those who believe, offering up silent pleas;
May they survive the wintery weather.
Fear takes a hold now, the ship’s sinking fast.
The lifeboats have gone, there’s no hope for me.
I slip ‘neath ‘the waves now, breathing my last,
Joining the list of those perished at sea.
And then, joy at last; I wake in my bed;
Last night I should have watched “Bambi” instead.
Abacus yacht boats pleasy
Banana boats are queazy
Catamaran boats squeezy
Dinghy boats all out easy
Eagle Craft boats too cheesy
Fishing boats yet so breezy
Game boats crazy uneasy
Houseboats creepy sneezy
Inflatable boats fizzy
Jet boats so smokeeasy
Kayak boats much so creasy
Lifeboats namely are busy
Motor boats mainly teasy
Narrowboats are but woozy
Origami boats leasy
Pontoon boats namely weasy
Q-Ship boats likewise greasy
Rider boats rather wheezy
Sedan bridge boats are flimsy
Trawler boats just as queasy
U-boats notably dizzy
Vessel boats sure are squeasy
Wakeboard boats easy-peasy
Xebec boats rather frenzy
Yacht boats are indeed sleazy
Zille fish boats funny fuzzy
why art?
for destruction.
why me?
for desolation.
you fell for my art
and you dissolved.
i warned you,
i was more than
just a poet
rambling on words.
i am a shooting star
who can burn
but never be a wish.
i was meant to stay,
to shine,
at the exact same place
for millions of years.
but that's the thing
about me,
you tell me to shine
i will dim myself.
you tell me to stay
i will run away.
you tell me to love
and i will destroy.
i am a sinking ship
who can drown
but never uplift.
i wanted to cross
oceans ;
to move souls
with words or my heart.
but i dug holes
in the bottom myself.
i handed out the lifeboats,
whispered in everyone's ears,
"sail away while you still can".
i am falling
void less over the orbit
i am sinking
word less in the sea
while i watch you
cowardly sailing away.
- mana :)
On a night much like tonight, and as I stood outside my door,
I heard some sounds that set me tingling,
Much like distant church bells ringing,
A peel for help, was in their clarion,
Ringing round from Heath to town, above the ocean roar,
All who lived in this small Hamlet knew that sound from yore,
It was a knell that would be sounded,
Just before a boat was grounded,
Grounded on the rocky coastline, or the rocky shore,
Signifying danger, it was a sound you can’t ignore.
Next I saw Dan Glover running, to the lifeboat he was manning,
Then his Bosun, John, came through,
Followed by the lifeboats crew,
All in eager expectation of helping those in dire distress,
Sailing out in any weather, braving sea and, nights darkness.
It was many hours later, that these brave lads came ashore,
They had rescued three poor seamen, from a crew of four,
Yet again they’d faced that maelstrom,
All that nature’s wildness came from,
Had faced it and had won, against the odds, and nature’s law.
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