Grave Goods: The Titanic Poem by Sheena Blackhall

A gold linked bracelet, ‘Amy' set in diamonds
A pocket watch from a Titanic steward
(Time stopped for both of them at ten to two)

The first class dining menu, all ten courses,
Last supper the well-heeled would ever eat

The waistcoat of a third class passenger
(William Henry Allen) , an exhibit

A baker's hat once worn by Billy Hine
A doorknob- steward's keys- a broken porthole
Grave goods, like holy relics, from the deep

The violin that Wallace Hartley played
As the ship sank- a gift from his fiancé
He never saw his baby that she bore

Glasses- mesh purse- a brushed bowler hat
Bronze cherub from the glittering grand staircase
All auctioned for collectors, grim survivors

What of the bodies frozen stiff as ice floes?
Crewmen were treated to a cold sea burial

Second and third class travellers were embalmed
Stitched up in canvas(those who were retrieved)

First class, preserved, sailed home in proper coffins
One must observe the niceties in death.