MAIDEN VOYAGE
they did not
complete their voyage
so did not receive
full pay
or rather, their widows
did not receive full compensation
(the loss of their husbands’
uniforms being the reason for yet further
monetary deduction)
strange
how their music called them
made abandoning their programme
quite unthinkable
accompanying the boat down
until the icy Atlantic
drowned their music
in what mythology
does this dedication
elevate them above
those crushing depths?
what is the moral
of this sacrifice, what (if anything)
is to be learnt
from this story?
seems
in the desire of the gods
to expose this myth of
indestructability, this overweening
aristocratic hubris
was thing they were sucked into
its collateral victims
whose death is
immortalized thus
by a song,
a painting, a poem
a story?
it is the figures of massive opulence
who bought the way into
the lifeboats
are most revered
forever lamented
for them
this maiden-voyage ship of grandeur was built
in whose
despite
its back was broken
this in itself
worth a last tune, final music