Please Look Away

From an image born

Please, oh please
do not look upon me
looking this way
please, this is not the real me
look away ...

Regal, elegant oh so
beautiful was I
a lady proud strong and steadfast

My maiden voyage that cold
Spring day
twenty-two thousand strong
I alone held these people
within my bosom

Oh the majesty
the merriment
dining and dancing
walking upon my fine decks

Adorned in jewelery
crystal chandeliers
the sea beneath me
I sailed onward in grand style

Too fast, they were pushing me too fast
he said, full steam ahead
I knew...

Too few watching something
 is going to go wrong
I cannot forsake these souls
I am bound to protect them

Too fast , too few
and ice straight ahead
cold and cruel
this giant iceberg

Had they not pushed me
so hard, fast
had they watched with a keen eye
I could have held them all safely
until I docked

The ice cut into me deep, stabbing
the sea beneath was within me
I was sinking taking so many with me
I tried, oh how I tired to stay afloat

Please understand I was a beauty
steadfast and true
held by the sacred oath of ships

Had they not pushed me
so hard, fast
had they looked with a keener eye
you would not have to see me as this
I could have grown old with dignity

Those I held who went down with me
I still hold they are my passengers
I am as a mother holding onto them

I shed many tears
many a days
for I let them down
I let them down
now together we lie
beneath what was beneath me
oh how I cry

Author's Note

thought of the ship The Titanic as a lady... and perhaps had they not pushed her so fast and watched more closely- taking for granted because she was a mighty ship nothing could go wrong
maybe she would have made it to New York....

Reviews

[Devons]

A really touching personification of this most famous ship. Told like a story through her eyes, with compassion and a sense of the tragedy lurking beneath. Since ships are referred to as "she" this enactment of her as a woman and mother creates an automatic connection between man and machine. She was indeed beautiful, but I still think she is even now - beautiful in an awesome sense. Like a ghost of semi-preserved glory and life. The poem works very well and is a fine almost mystical summary re-telling. And I really like these lines:
"now together we lie
beneath what was beneath me"
...This last line has other connotations beyond the physical. How the mighty have fallen.

[Gandré]

yeah but people are always greedy, that's how we are.. they pushed her - and they paid a price. You always make me feel deeply conscious, I missed your poems. Such a myth such a story, and yet what about all the other ships lying on the ground of oceans... I feel sadness... I missed you. Recently I wrote on your profile and another lady meant - I left her message for you.. However, I think of you, dear Chloe.

[Geel]

before i notice ur not i too seen the titanic as the lady in this scribe as a mother trying to protect her children with dear life and failed and yet she died with her children very creative chloe you captured the story so well

[deeps]

I really enjoyed this write here, makes me think.

[An owl on the moon]

Just recently watched the movie again.. Your words elegantly capture her beauty and power that was brought to a tragic end.. much too soon. Beautifully expressed with that wonder of personification dancing around us.

[Jessie Sianodel]

It definitely made me think of the Titanic with the iceberg.....it wasn't even that they hit the iceberg, it wasn't their fault really. Icebergs look much smaller than they actually are. But they didn't put in enough life boats because they had to make room for a dance floor. We were so stupid back then.......

[Snow412]

Interesting idea here. I liked how you worded everything in this piece. There's nothing worse than over confidence, especially at the cost of so many lives.

The ending was a good wrap.

[Cheyenne]

This poem gave me chills how true this write really is!!! Its wonderful!! The reason the titanic split so easily is because on one part of the ship they used aluminum and not strong enough screws. SO had they not been lazy with thier work and pushed the ship to hard they most likely would have made it

[Viki Rachel]

I could tell that this was from Titanic. Great job, I really felt the heartache of the Titanic. She would've grown old with dignity, but some things are not meant to be...

[Alicante lullaby]

tragic...seriously,told so beautifully...it moves you...aship crying...lovely,Chloe.

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

Oh!..I love how you tend to take up such rare themes,you have a very sharp insight.I love how you have personified and retold the great tragedy of titanic,that would always be told and retold.All tales can not be that of success for there have to be some of sorrow,tragedy so that we can learn from them.
I do have a suggestion,i feel you could have used punctuation marks,it would add more impact to your words..and also more fluidity.

I shed many tears
many a days
for I let them down
I let them down
now together we lie
beneath what was beneath me
oh how I cry..those words were very good.