She survived the coffin ship,
She survived alone.
She stepped upon this untamed land
A woman not yet grown.
She had watched her mother die
On Ireland's distant shore.
In charge now of a family
That numbered one plus four.
Her father arranged the passage
For her small sibs and she
To flee from Ireland's famine
During that time in history.
The baby died just one week out,
His form fed to the sea.
Then Pat and Sean soon gave up
And God set their souls free.
Mary held on the longest time,
Her stomach heaved and sore.
She finally gave up her earthly fight
Twelve hours from the shore.
But Bridget survived the coffin ship.
She survived alone.
She stepped upon this untamed land
A woman not yet grown.
Her sad eyes met her father's then,
And in that telling glance,
Her father guessed his family's fate,
But at least SHE had a chance.
Bridget survived the Texas heat.
She withstood the storms.
She protected her children when she gave birth
From most of life's great harms.
Her voice never lost that lovely lilt.
She would take her grandchild's hand,
And tell how she survived the trip
When she left Ireland.
A contest entry
- In Honor Of My 50th Gold Trophy On AP by BluesMan.
3000 points, ended February 27, 40 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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I love this story poem A sad time without a doubt.
I must read and write the same as yourself as the passage mentioned by another comment
"For her small Sib's and she
To flee from Ireland's famine"
It read and seemed perfect to me.when stanza is read as two separate couplets
Excellent
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Nicely penned! and as an Irishman American, I appreciate this.
MJ Donnelly.
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This is such a sad piece of american immagrant history . The rhyme was well done and the story well 6told Thank you for entering my contest
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One of the saddest of stories, it ends well.
We do have a problem with grammar to make sense in:
Her father arranged the passage
For her small sibs and she
To flee from Ireland's famine
Correct for the subject pronoun would be "she/ fled"
because preposition "for" takes an object, "for her to flee." It happens...
Other than that, the spelling is flawless and the rhyme works well in a story that breaks your heart.
Terry -
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Thanks for the comment
Thanks for pointing that out. Guess I'll need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a way to correct it without ruining the rhyme scheme.
Blessings,
Myth
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I'm in total awe of this piece! It's absolutely flawless, both form, flow, grammar, and subject! I wonder if my relatives came from Ireland in similar circumstances...
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