His shoulders hit the earth
With a soft thump
Curls sweep across his eyes
“I’m checking down. Will you stay by me?”
Frenzied fight, finally still
At 535 feet
The sea cradles her prize
“Fitzgerald, we are about 10 miles behind you.”
Crushing, burning his lungs
Pain searing, licking
As a million barbed tongues
The Fitzgerald kept disappearing from radar.
Seas to 35 feet, 100-knot gusts
Captain waging desperate war
On the storm’s ferocious lust
“Fitzgerald, how are you making out?”
“We are holding our own, going along like an old shoe.”
Gifting his crew a few minutes’ peace
Was all their captain could do
Rogue waves thrashing
A thunderous groan
The mighty ship snapping
The crew strewn like stones
A girl shaken from her dream
Recognizing him, somehow
His name she couldn’t have known
Gasping for air, she yearned
And yet, Who is this boy?
Years promised to their home
“It is fairly certain that the Fitzgerald went down.”
Vanishing, this boy
A few short miles from the street
From the safe harbor
Of the girl he wasn’t to meet
“We’re talking now a matter of life and death and looking for survivors that might be in life rafts or in the water.”
Green eyes shimmering
Eternal fingers
Stroking his soft hair
Silently, he sleeps
Her mouth enveloping
Breathing desire
Through his willing lips
Hers. Alone.
.
_________
My fictitious story.
Setting is the real event of the disappearance of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
Excerpted radio transmissions in italics.
_________
The Edmund Fitzgerald went down November 10, 1975.
No distress signals were sent before she sank.
The crew of 29 were lost, and no bodies were recovered.
The exact cause of the sinking remains disputed.
_________
.
Video posted to youtube by user nh6central
“The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald,” by Gordon Lightfoot.
Purchase album or song here.
.
_________
For more information about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, see:
http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edmund-Fitzgerald
https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/the-fateful-journey
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1975/11/10/the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald
_________
.
_________
Copyright Disclaimer:
Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as comment, criticism, scholarship, teaching, research and news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted.
“Fair Use” guidelines: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
_________
.
simply creative and amazing,,,incredible!
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Thank you so much! Your wonderfully kind and generous comment made my day. 🙂
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The gales of November remember.
Nicely written!
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The church bell chimed ’til it rang
Twenty-nine times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Thank you!
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wonderful piece. i remember this well, and we have pieces of it here in a museum in detroit. such a sad story
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Thanks very much. A tragic story that I learned about from Gordon Lightfoot’s song. Yes, it’s very good that Detroit has artifacts that people are able to view and appreciate. I understand that this shipwreck resulted in changes to safety procedures.
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Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
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Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Courtsied when you have and kiss’d
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
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Amazing writing, Danica… and the setting is both tragic and fascinating.
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Thank you, J! The setting is indeed tragic and fascinating, and continues to capture imaginations. The ages of the crew ranged from 63 (the captain) to 20 (a watchman). I thought I was going to write about the captain, who was near retirement. As I was writing, the story developed around a boy instead.
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It’s great when that development happens, huh?
I was writing some things the other day that I was fairly certain about, but when I put pen to paper and hummed and whistled, it changed… an evolution just occurring very naturally and sub-consciously.
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Yes! That moment keeps me going.
Does that happen to you a lot? It does me.
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It does, yeah. I find that I also draft something, but will change it if I’m singing… completely different. With no real intention of changing it, but it just feels natural to follow that flow…
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Beautifully written. The radio parts make it even more haunting than it is. I didn’t know this tale… so tragic, romantic and sad.
Sorry for pointing,”The sea ‘craddles’ her prize” should be ‘cradles’?
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Thanks so much! I listened to the radio parts a few times when I came across them. I had planned to include some of Gordon Lightfoot’s lyrics, but changed my mind as the story unfolded.
Thank you for pointing out ‘craddles’! How did I not see that? Why don’t spell check and auto correct work when you need them? Questions that torment me today. 🙂
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Well done and I haven’t heard that song in many many years!
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Thank you. It’s such a beautiful song! I couldn’t believe I didn’t already have it, or much Lightfoot for that matter.
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I liked this one a lot!
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That thrills and delights me. Thank you!
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This was so interesting and romantic. I like the true story and the weaving of the romance which might have been, Danica. 💕 🚢
I was a sophomore in college and I have been to the farthest north lighthouse and shipwreck museum you have a link to.
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Thanks very much, Robin. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. That means a lot to me.
That lighthouse and museum must have been intriguing! I haven’t visited them in person, but maybe will one day.
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