A Survivor Contemplates
the Crucifix on the Point
Ste. Luce-sur-mer
Christ of the Rocks
hanging here on the point
from the crucifix
with your open eyes:
do you see, out at sea,
where gray waves cover
the graveyard of the Empress,
at rest, her passengers,
caressed beneath shallow waters.
They have gone on before me,
those friends I numbered,
their piercing eyes
lie covered now.
Splayed toes:
last night’s footprints
erased by wind-blown
dust and sand.
Dry crunch of skull and skeleton
crushed underfoot by sea boots
ascending, descending
the beach’s gentle slope.
Unknown,
these lands around me:
emitte lucem tuam /
send forth Thy light!
Unexplored,
these mountains that surround me:
ipsa me deduxerunt /
such things have led me on.
Unsolved,
these mysteries that confound me:
in montem sanctum tuum /
unto Thy holy hill …
… in nomine Patris /
… in the name of the Father.
I wander from grave to grave,
reading the headstones:
quare me repulisti? /
why hast Thou cast me off?
Coarse grass weaves bindweed
with columbines combining.
Incessant mourning of glove grey
morning doves,
drawing tears from dawn’s face:
quare tristis incedo? /
why do I go sorrowful?
Verdant stems,
unsophisticated flowers,
weeds dark between stark
granite stones.
Names!
Whose names?
My long lost brothers’ names,
Eric, Phillip, Peter,
not yet carved in stone:
non in tabernacula tua /
not yet in Thy tabernacle.
This churchyard,
will it always be
as steady as a headland
even in a storm?
Here, the terrestrial
centre is stable:
quare tristis es, anima mea? /
why art thou sad, oh my soul?
The ark on the waters
moves from side to side,
lulled by the sea waves,
up and down.
On the altar,
a gilded chalice,far from the far flung
malice of the sea:
quare conturbas me? /
why dost thou disquiet me?
rogermoorepoet 
I returned here to read the two Empress parts I missed while in Michigan. I’m so glad that I did. They are wonderful!
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Thanks, Tanya. I am preparing it for publication on CreateSpace (Amazon). I discovered an old version with about twenty new poems in it. I have been revising that for the last few days. I appreciate your encouragement … !!! … Thank you so much.
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It is wonderful! I will add this to my purchase list…
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I should have it up in a couple of days.
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Best yet Roger IMHO
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Thank you, Fran, and so good to see you here. I didn’t realize you were following me on the blog. Lots of good things in this one. All best wishes.
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Wandering among the grave markers… very vivid imagery. Can imagine the wanderer reading the words and stepping among the weeds and course grass. Wow again!
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Thanks, Meg. I just made a marvelous discovery. I have re-discovered all the additional poems from the Empress of Ireland, the ones that I thought I had lost. I am revising them now. They did need some work: no wonder I tried to lose them!
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Oh that’s funny! But I’m so glad you found them. I’m sure they will be excellent with some editing!
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They are very interesting: they describe the river around Bic and Ste. Luce and detail the ship before she went down and the panic as she went down. This is currently limited to one poem, the first of the sequence.
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I look forward to it!
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Did he who made the lamb, do this? Why did He tolerate this? How did it come about, that so many innocents died so cruelly, tragically, prematurely? Why should the sea have them?
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The same questions have been asked for years, John, millennia in fact, and there has never been a satisfactory answer. The Blake quote ties in well, for Blake was a visionary and asked many of the same questions in his Songs of Innocence, again without receiving an answer.
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