the sinking of the titanic

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This classical black poetry piece is one of the foundations of SPOKEN WORD POETRY, the revolution that failed to be televised but was always bubbling under. This is a masterpiece with its origins in the south of the USA.
I hope ‘Shine’ touches a special part of you as he has done mine


It was 1912 when the awful news got around
That the great Titanic was sinking down.
Shine came running upon deck, told the captain, ‘Please,
The water in the boiler room is up to my knees.’

Captain said; ‘Take your black self on back down there!
I got a hundred and fifty pumps to keep the boiler room clear.’
Shine went back in the whole, started shoveling coal,
Singing, ‘Lord have mercy, Lord, on my soul!’
Just then half the ocean jumped across the boiler room deck.
Shine yelled to the captain, ‘The water’s around my neck!’
Captain said, ‘Go back! Neither fear nor doubt!
I got a hundred more pumps to keep the water out.’

‘Your words sound happy and your words sound true,
But this one time Cap, your words won’t do.
I don’t like chicken and I don’t like ham-
And I don’t believe your pump is worth a damn!’

The old Titanic was beginning to sink
Shine pulled of his clothes and jumped in the brink.
He said, ’Little fish, big fish, and shark fishes, too,
Get out of my way because I’m coming through.’

Captain on bridge hollered,’Shine, shine, save poor me,
And I’ll make you as rich as any man can be.’
Shine said, ‘There’s more gold on land than there is on sea
And he swimmed on.

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