the wreck of the Lusitania

Mill Stream Meanwood

water wheel Armely Mills


Water Babies II

I pass the model of the Lusitania
and see it is the anniversary of the its sinking.
Eighteen minutes
for the huge cruise ship
all its passengers men women and children, babes in arms
the crew
all its dinner plates, forks, beds, chess sets, wardrobes and suitcases
sunk
lost
in the Atlantic off the coast of Ireland.

In Leeds at The Hollies  
Sorrow spilling like an oil slick
like hot black tar
over the whole area.
The mill-stone in Meanwood Beck
it sits by a bridge
under
Water
Weighing down the gossip
the grief of girls
and their babies
separated
alone
bereft,
empty.

And I think of the water wheel at Armley Mills
and wonder at its black depths
And the desperation of mothers with babies
And the weight of the water
As the wheel goes down to the depth of its apex.

The turbulence and suction
The force of motion
And the feeling of
Weightless wonder
As
Overbalanced on the edge.
One could
fall
and be carried down to the depths
Swifter than a Siren’s call
As hypnotic as her silvery water song
And down and down and down and down and down and down and down
It’s a mechanised pace-maker
Rhythmic wetness
As each paddle hits the surface and dives below.
The propeller of the Lusinatia
The mill stone at the Hollies
The waterwheel at Armely mills
And all the water babies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania
On the afternoon of 7 May, a German U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania, 11 mi (18 km) off the southern coast of Ireland and inside the declared war zone. A second, unexplained, internal explosion sent her to the seabed in 18 minutes, with the deaths of 1,198 passengers and crew. (Fred Spear poster of the sinking, encouraging enlisters.





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