Heads Down At Salvation

By Omar Jawed Shaikh

Day 1

The ship sank last night,

The storm was too strong and the waves too high.

Now in this boat... the 7 of us survive.

We sing songs and play games to lift our spirits.

It was necessary at such a dire time

It felt as if nothing had gone wrong.

All sang but him... the proud captain, too arrogant to see the threat of the sea.

Now he sits with his head down and hands guilty red.

Day 2

It's been 2 nights since the ship went down.

We float farther away, shivering in the cold winds.

The ocean seems vast with no land in sight.

The old jolly man keeps our spirits high with stories of his life.

All still seems great and hearty with the stories of the old man

All stayed hearty but the worried fool.

He sits with his head down. Too quick to give up on hope

Day3

It's been 3 nights since the ships sank

We drift farther away, and the ocean grows wider and the winds get colder.

The old man has run out of stories and the We have run out of songs.

We all still stay composed, as we ration food and water that is now so scarce.

All stayed composed but the little girl

The poor girls sat with her head down. wept and longed for her lost brother.

Day4

It's been 4 nights since the ship sank

But last night was even more terrible

The waves where high and the storm was strong.

The little boat crashed and turned and drifted between high crests.

We clung on the the ropes with our lives.

This morning we found our resources washed aways.

Yet we all hugged and smiled, reassuring ourselves that the worst was behind us

All hugged and smiled but the young mother

The mother sat with her head down. weeping for her Infant in her arms.

who passed in the storm last night

Day 5

It's been 5 nights since the ship sank

The ocean became calmer yet more horrendous

Once calm and open oceans, now filled with bodies from the shipwreck it pushed our way.

Bodies so far mutilated by the water and its creatures... to grotesque to describe.

Yet we all stayed calm as the corpses attracted fishes we could eat.

All stayed calm but the old man.

The poor old storyteller sat with his head down. The man wept for his wife whose dress he saw floating among the bodies.

Day 6

It’s been 6 nights since the ship sank.

The winds now too cold

The ocean now too vast and empty.

The stomachs now too hungry.

All have now become quiet

All now quiet but the drunk.

The drunk now sits with his head down. Driven mad by the horrors, now mumbles doomed words to himself. Shivering

and giggling maniacally as he does.

Day 7

It's been 7 nights since the ship sank

The sky is blue.

Sound of the seagulls in the sky

There in the distance land is in sight.

Days of suffering, and persevering has given its rewards.

Scream of LAND HOOO!! and joy was in expectation

Yet where there should be jolly there is silence.

Silent sailors with their head down.

All sit silent.

I too sit silent..

Sitting with my head down... unable to see salvation so close

A boat of once hopeful survivors, now a boat of lost souls

By Omar Jawed Shaikh