Poetry By Chuck

This adventure poem should be read while listening to

Yanni's "Song for Antarctica."... to set the mood.

Author Notes:  This is the story of a whaling ship which will not return from the Arctic Wastes which it enters.   It takes place in the late 1800's and the story is continued in my poem Dog Town, which takes place in Dogtown, Massachusetts.   I wrote this long before I read the true story of the Ship "Endurance".  Which is one heck of a Adventure book and all true.   I wrote this from the aspect of a young man just setting out on his first voyage with a seasoned crew surrounding him.  These are his reflections....

Free Music | Free Song For Antarctica ringtone at EZ-Tracks.com

 

Now enter the grave of the damned....

Damned Are We





North we’re bound our fortunes to seek,
with sails tightened and timber creak.
Our keels strong as is our will,
we’ve an ocean to cross and whales to kill.
Tis, not a voyage for the landlubbing meek.
Tis, whalin’ we’ll be and their blubber we seek.

We must be bold and cautious in our quest,
keeping a sharp watch from the crows nest.

Dangers and obstacles, and hazards abound,
storms, reefs, and running aground.

Fear will never alter our course,
greed drives us, a more powerful force.

The pilots sextant will mirror the star,
and Polaris to guide us a beacon from afar.

For each pound of flesh, each gallon of oil,
we intend to shed whales blood til the oceans boil.

From hell itself the wind doth blow
stabbing at us across the frozen ice flows.

“Please God!” “Open a fissure for me!”
“Split the ice as far as the open sea!”

Or if thou willith its here we will die
an entire ship of frozen corpses, my mates and I.

No fire will burn nor lantern long light
these frozen expanses cloaked in the Devils night.

The riggin’s alight with St Elmo’s fire
casting a pall on our situation dire.

The temperature has plummeted below the scale
without the sun none shall live to tell the tale.

“Oh Lord!” “Why have thou forsaken me
and abandoned us all in this unforgiving sea?”

Now the end is near I feel its icy touch.
“Please God!” “Stop our suffering, is it asking so much?”

“Will future explorers discover our frozen bait,
will they then share a similar fate.”

“Or will an Indian Summer brings us to rot
and Polar Bears and Flies gnaw us to naught.”

“Will our lost souls howl in the wind
enticing others towards the same end.”

An eternity afloat above the briny blue
encased in a frozen sarcophagus, preserved like new.

“Travelers!” “Beware our frozen tomb.”
For to visit is to stay, your life ended too soon.

The ice splits and shifts over an angry sea
then freezes, trapping all,

unceasingly.

Author's Questions/Comments
Long before I heard of the ship Endurance, which suffered such a fate, I wrote this poem over a period of two years.  I hope it provides a measure of insight into the horror that can be experienced at Mother Nature's whim....

*(If your interested in reading more about this story, visit this link for the book:  www.anitadiamant.com/newfiction.htm   )

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