FreezeRay:  Poetry With A Pop
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Cassandra de Alba

Titanic as Kalopsia 

 
A head-on collision with the iceberg 
would have saved the Titanic. Still a disaster, 
of course – her first hundred feet telescoped 
in, crushing people, allowing the ocean 
entrance. But she could float with her first 
four compartments flooded. The choice 
made, the wrong one, was avoidance. 
Avert disaster by swinging to the side, 
let the iceberg scrape holes into the hull, 
too many for the lackluster precautions 
that tried to earn unsinkable. 
 
But who among us would not have made 
that choice? When confronted with an obstacle, 
do you keep to your course? Do you flinch? 
Do you go down with the ship, or try to run 
every time your life is about to collide 
with something bigger than itself? 
Who among us has a contingency plan, 
enough lifeboats? I will not be a survivor 
 
of my body. None of us will. As long 
as we try to avoid the crash, we will 
succumb to it, every time. James Cameron 
had it wrong. That is not the love story 
to write for a sinking ship. Let me tell you 
a true one. A man who survived lives 
to be a consultant on a movie about 
the Titanic. On the day they film 
the sinking, he sneaks on to set 
in costume, poses as an extra, tries 
this time to go down with the ship. 
He is discovered by the director; 
 
again, he fails, is escorted off 
the model deck before the cameras 
roll. What compelled him to get it right 
this time? Who among us would not 
relive their darkest hour for a more 
fitting end? There are things the heart 
does not go on from. None of this 
is unsinkable. 

Cassandra de Alba’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Red Lightbulbs, Strange Horizons, and Drunken Boat, among other publications. Her most recent chapbooks are called Bloodlust (No Spaceships Allowed) and Special Bitch Academy. She lives in Massachusetts and blogs at outsidewarmafghans.tumblr.com.

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