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Tie-tannic

Clik The Mouse

Monday, April 16th, 2012

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 For a team that should have been ‘unsinkable’
They went down without a fight
Women and children first
As the disconsolate take flight

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 They hadn’t really prepared
For the iceberg tagged ‘relegation’
But now that they are holed
They approach with resignation

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 The captain and the crew
Go down with this ship
Hoping that history
Will chart merely a ‘blip’

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 The rats they are a-jumping
And the lifeboats heavily manned
Abandoning choppy waters
For the dry comfort of land

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The true fans, will shed tears in beers
And wine diffused with tannic
Rudderless at the top
The board will blindly panic

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 No matter then, the cup run
That had many a splendid tie
As they descend to the depths
We knowingly wave bye-bye

© Clik the mouse, 14th April 2012

Notes

Use of tannic acid in food applications is widespread and significant amounts are used as process aids in beer clarification, aroma compound in soft drinks and juices. Equally in the wine industry, where it is used as a natural clarifying agent, colour stabilizer and taste enhancer.

Commemorating the 100 year anniversary since the Titanic sank.

After leaving Southampton (where my in-laws are from, sister’s husband) on 10 April 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown (now Cobh – where my in-laws are from, wife’s family) in Ireland before heading westwards towards New York.

On 14 April 1912, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles (600 km) south of Newfoundland, Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 pm (ship’s time; GMT-3).

The glancing collision caused Titanic’s hull plates to buckle inwards in a number of locations on the starboard side and opened five of the sixteen watertight compartments to the sea.

Over the next two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank.

Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partly filled.

A disproportionate number of men – over 90% of those in Second Class – were left aboard due to a “women and children first” protocol followed by the officers loading the lifeboats.

Just before 2:20 am Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board.

Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia caused by immersion in the freezing ocean.

The 710 survivors were taken aboard from the lifeboats by the RMS Carpathia a few hours later.

I’m happy to say that Southampton FC are conversely on their way up, looking like strong candidates for automatic promotion back to the Premiership this season.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/tie-tannic/