My dad sent me this terrific poem the other day and I thought it would be a nice thing to post.
OK,I admit it takes a little understanding of the terms to know what the poet is talkin of,but I also think it's something all of us can relate to...
An Engine Room
The sparkling triple expansion,
With its noise and whistling steam
The thumpity thump of the crankshaft,
And the connecting rods all agleam.
The clickity clack of the valve gear,
And the swish of the feed water rams,
The aroma of engine lubricants,
The sound of the oilman's salaams.
The whir from the boiler air fan,
The condenser's different smell,
The leaking steam from loose packing,
The gurgle from the bilge box well.
The sudden blast from the boiler room,
As the junior blows the glass,
The aroma of sweat and brasso,
As the fireman cleans the brass.
The startling ring of the telegraph,
And the action that it brings,
The harmony of disciplined colleagues,
Like music at it swings.
Sunlight streaming through skylights,
Dazzling on polished steel,
Moving around the engine room,
As the quartermaster moves the wheel.
The slowing down of the engines,
And the final telegraph sound,
The quietness of finished with engines,
The joy of homeward bound.
-John Baillie
Don't forget to keep checking into my blog...
And yea,thanks pa!
3 comments:
Good one!!
I never knew Engineers could appreciate poetry. Only thought Engineers were good at turning in nuts and bolts not good at turning out poetry. Although both Engineers and Poets need to have imagination but engineers try to stay within the realms of reality while poets have the license to go beyond it.
Wishing all the BEST to the budding POET who is trying to turn an ENGINEER. Then may be we will have more and more Engineering verse on the blog.
Very nice poem. Reminds me of some of Walt Whitman's writings: celebrating the orderly movement of technology. You & your aunt both seem to like blog themes related to "color." My other blog is more poetic & uses color more. In all fairness, it is truly Christian, but does not argue or force that message on anyone.
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