I’m
currently working on a series of poems about the women who have held our family
like lifeboats afloat over the last two centuries. Most of the men in my family
tree, especially on my father’s side, died young. I had one grandfather until I
was six and lost my father when I was fourteen. This poem is the title poem, in
both past tense and present tense. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Lifeboats
You were our lifeboats
You alone carried our
lost souls grieving
away from a sinking
ship, the larger vessel
torpedoed, striking an
unseen iceberg,
blowing an engine,
adrift
in a wide open ocean
with a broken
mast, a torn sail, our
wooden boats
ablaze, smoke billowing
under
the stars where all hope
abandoned
families in the wake of
disease
and debt. We bid our men
and our lack
of grandfathers farewell
on their wrecked
ships and rowed forward
through the piercing
fog, steering clear of
some of the jagged
rocks, desperate to hold
the roar
of the long falls behind
our backs.
You were our life
jackets and
without you, we would
not
remain afloat.
Lifeboats
You are our lifeboats
You alone carry our lost
souls grieving
away from a sinking
ship, the larger vessel
torpedoed, striking an
unseen iceberg,
blowing an engine,
adrift
In a wide open ocean
with a broken
mast, a torn sail, our
wooden boats
ablaze, smoke billowing
under
the stars where all hope
abandons
families in the wake of
disease
and debt. We bid our men
and our lack
of grandfathers farewell
on their wrecked
ships and row forward
through the piercing
fog, steering clear of
the jagged
rocks, desperate to hold
the roar
of the long falls behind
our backs.
You are our life jackets
and
without you, we will not
remain afloat.
