(13 January 2012)
T’was a cold January night off Italy, can still hear the cries fading
The cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized and sank while sailing
Past the island of Giglio, where a reef gashed her hull bare
Once called Poetry in Motion, became the Ship of Despair
The ship was carrying more than 4000 passengers and crew
But 32 did not make it that night – sad indeed but true
Floundering, drowning, thrashing in Mediterranean icy waters
They remain just a memory now to their spouses, sons and daughters
Captain Schettino was on the bridge that night with his Moldavian dancer
Tried to show her a trick or two of ship-handling and romance her
Passed too close to Le Scole reef, ordered the turn too late
Swung the broadside onto the reef, and that sealed his fate
There was a shudder and a blackout; pitch black darkness came calling
There were screams of panic, crash of dishes, people running and falling
Some passengers contacted harbour authorities as the ship began tilting
Captain ordered ‘Abandon Ship’ after an hour(!) of hemming and hawing
Sea water came rushing in searching nooks’n’crannies for secrets
The engine room was flooded soon; it was too late for regrets
Some jumped overboard to swim ashore; got injured and drowned
Many were trapped in the bowels of the ship, could not be found!
Captain jumped ship early by lifeboat; No ‘Women and children first!’
He didn’t care who survived or died – seamanship at its worst!
The crying of wet passengers and crew rang in chilly air
Drowned by the screaming seagulls who swooped down here and there
Most made it ashore by dawn, thanks to choppers and rescue boats
The search continued for two weeks for the missing and those afloat
The captain was arrested for manslaughter, 300 people abandoned
Who were left to fend for themselves; their lives made redundant
And now that the wakes are over, and the masses have been said
And the widows, widowers and orphans are left to mourn their dead
Seagulls still litter the sky, scream in a manner primordial
Sing the tragic saga of the wreck of the Costa Concordia….
(P.S. The wreck was set upright in the early hours of 17 September 2013. In July 2014, the ship was refloated and towed to Genoa to scrap. 31 people are known to have died. One missing person, Indian crew member Russel Rebello, was unaccounted for and presumed dead. His remains were finally found after the ship had been fully dismantled.)
© Beetashok Chatterjee
