The Unanswered Questions

The Unanswered Questions.

A sadness fills my heart you know
When thinking of that day,
Back in April, 1912,
The day Titanic sailed

So heres a flashback, just for you
My thoughts in black and white
Of what it must have been for those
Who died too soon that night.

T'was the beginning of the end,
When they stepped aboard the boat,
Thier eyes were filled with wonder,
At the luxury afloat.

While some were out on business,
And others going home,
Some were seeking a new start,
In a land, to them, unknown.

They dined and danced and mingled,
With their friends of old and new,
They strolled upon the decks,
And admired the starlit view.

The days went by, they settled in,
A few more hours to go,
But the air was growing chilly,
Oh, how were they to know?

Relationships were blossoming,
Aboard the ship that night,
Classes mixing, seemed unreal,
And was it really right?

But money not the person make,
Nor possessions that they boast,
The heart, the soul, the love within,
Thats where it matters most.

Iceberg warnings coming in,
From others afloat the sea,
Mesaba, Californian, Deutschland,
Unheeded - could it be?

"I'd like to get there early Sir,
Go faster Captain. Be the best,
We'll make the news and show 'em all
We're faster than the rest!"

"We need to run the engines in,
I'm really not so sure",
Then ordered the last two boilers lit,
What did he do that for?

So on she sped into the night,
Approaching ice galore,
"Iceberg, right ahead" they cried,
But into her side it tore.

A shudder, then the silence came,
The doors were closing tight,
Workmen running to and fro,
To save their lives that night.

Loading of boats had just begun,
I wonder if they knew,
The wealthy, working, impoverished,
Of which there were too few.

"Women and Children first please",
So the fathers, brothers, sons,
Would meet them in a little while,
"When the next boat comes".

The boats were lowered, one by one,
And time was running out,
The ones on board were filling fast,
People running all about.

Isador said "You must go now",
I'll be with you real soon,
But Isadora proudly stayed behind,
To be with him in his doom.

The band played on, weary now,
The ship was sinking fast,
"Nearer my God to thee" they sang,
And played it till the last.

They watched in awe from boats afloat,
As she slipped beneath the sea,
Then snapped and rose and slipped again,
In shock that this could be.

Silence followed for a while,
Then slowly one by one,
People fighting for their lives,
But what could they have done?

The screaming dimmed after a time,
No longer could they fight,
Men, women, children, babies,
Froze to death that night.

In the boats they sat and cried,
Cold and shocked and mad,
They waited for Carpathia,
The chance at life they had.

Some of them live now you know,
Vague memories of the past,
Just babies when Titanic sailed,
And now they are the last.

Copyright 1999-2013 Karen Caire & Paul Todd