The Joy of Shipwrecks

Every picture tells a story
and here,
the mighty ship has run aground,
the storm still raging,
waves crashing over it’s bow,
stranded,
the hull shattered,
its sails torn,
its journey gone
horribly,
horribly astray.

There are no signs of survivors,
only the glorious wreck,
and the sinking sun.

But pictures rarely tell the truth,
or at least the whole of it,
for shallows provide a chance
of survival,
and likely nearby,
just out of view,
ragged sailors, tired, wet and worn
stand on the shore
celebrating,
aware that, had they continued their journey into the west
they would have been lost
in the deep, unfathomable sea.

About this poem

I can go to the same gallery ten different times and each time I will find myself drawn to different paintings, depending on where I am in my life. The other day when I stopped at the National Galleries in DC, I found myself drawn to pictures like this, one, “The Stranded Ship” by Asher Brown Durand, full of calamity, and yet, also full of a strange peace.

Often, disaster is just an opportunity to celebrate life, to begin again, to be amazed that despite it all, we ARE alive and there ARE opportunities for joy. Always.

Tom