The ship is sinking.
We put all we had into it.
All of our resources, our will,
our strength, our hopes,
we put into it.
Blind to our fears,
ignoring clear warnings
we boldly set out
on our course,
our journey of hope.
Now it is sinking,
unbelievable, but it's sinking.
I let go. Let go of the rope
which binds me to this
sinking vessel.
I let go of those hopes,
this takes strength and new hopes.
Down it goes, in a torrent of cries
it goes down, it dies.
Funereal feelings surround
the three survivors of this wreck.
I swim, struggle, feel weak
but go on
as the two other survivors cling to me.
I'd love to sink, go down,
let go, die with the wreck,
but I'm the vessel now.
I am the hope of this crew now.
I must go on.
I cling to shards of life,
gather them in the water,
pull them together and take stock:
us three, our place, our life
we still have this life.
I fight the current looking desperately
for a patch of dry land
to climb upon and rebuild.
I pool my strength and go on.
We three search and learn
how to be just us three.
In this ocean of loss our joy
shines like stars in a sky of darkness,
small spots of joy,
but they are so bright in the night
of our loss.
The life we have lost leaves its mark
on our souls, on our flesh,
on our minds, on our hearts.
These scars, these marks,
incorporate into our newest selves.
We become new together,
stronger than before,
we know so much more than before.
We know now that a sinking ship
is not a world end.
We know now that second chances
can be better chances than those
we had before.
We put all we had into it.
All of our resources, our will,
our strength, our hopes,
we put into it.
Blind to our fears,
ignoring clear warnings
we boldly set out
on our course,
our journey of hope.
Now it is sinking,
unbelievable, but it's sinking.
I let go. Let go of the rope
which binds me to this
sinking vessel.
I let go of those hopes,
this takes strength and new hopes.
Down it goes, in a torrent of cries
it goes down, it dies.
Funereal feelings surround
the three survivors of this wreck.
I swim, struggle, feel weak
but go on
as the two other survivors cling to me.
I'd love to sink, go down,
let go, die with the wreck,
but I'm the vessel now.
I am the hope of this crew now.
I must go on.
I cling to shards of life,
gather them in the water,
pull them together and take stock:
us three, our place, our life
we still have this life.
I fight the current looking desperately
for a patch of dry land
to climb upon and rebuild.
I pool my strength and go on.
We three search and learn
how to be just us three.
In this ocean of loss our joy
shines like stars in a sky of darkness,
small spots of joy,
but they are so bright in the night
of our loss.
The life we have lost leaves its mark
on our souls, on our flesh,
on our minds, on our hearts.
These scars, these marks,
incorporate into our newest selves.
We become new together,
stronger than before,
we know so much more than before.
We know now that a sinking ship
is not a world end.
We know now that second chances
can be better chances than those
we had before.
Sums it up well!
ReplyDeleteAll too true, at times!
ReplyDeleteYou should join a writer’s group. There’s a Mobile Literary Festival downtown in March. Local authors will be holding workshops and sharing their work. You should come!
ReplyDeleteI should. You’re right!
Delete