What were they singing
the Titanic's coal stokers?
What did they choir along
in the steam engine while shoveling
coal on end amid screams,
expletives and sailor jokes?
What were they humming
larksome soaked in rills of sweat,
ale and eating bacon rolls
like ravenous gannets?
Were they guided finally
by Virgil as a lodestar
while walking through
the last and eternal
flames of their lives?
What did they ever sing
somewhere in the waiting room
to the Other Side?
I hear their hobnail boots tapping
a rag-time on the flooded floor.
