After The Lion left the room

The lion left the room
It had been sitting in the corner
Foreboding our doom
It took its pound of flesh
Before it left
And we are all that remains
We are the rest

The river Gods have claimed their sacrifice
They raged and raved all night
Two ships collided in the water
They paid the highest price

But are they finished with the slaughter
How many deaths will be the toll
Before the river authorities alter
And reason takes back control

I hear the head and shoulders heaving
The rescuers on heavy ropes heave ho
And as they walk away, in leaving,
Dejected with heavy footsteps go

They dragged the river bed
No sign could they find of the hull
Like the rib cage of a whale encasing
The breathless bodies and souls

The water comes in shocking shards
Like ice sheets falling from the skies
And in the river the terrible serpents
Close their grips and tighten their ties

Hard, hard they thrash in the water
Oh what purpose could justify
Such loss, such senseless torture
Tourists visiting first time in their lives

Out on the David's ship deck the captain glimpses
This gargantuan ship in surprise
And the other Captain of the Goliath Viking
Can neither see clearly nor take evasive exercise

The bulk of one, the distraction of the other
The bridge looms large like an open mouth
And forth spills the torrents of snow from the Alps
As rain falls hard from dark black skies

What were they doing out in such weather?
Was it worth the price of the ticket that cost their lives?

Those of us who are land lubbers
Know little of the risks involved
Nor of the captain who could read the water
Its every twist and fold

But what such currents could do after
The cruel twists of fate now told
The river like a Neptune's circus
Where carpets were pulled
And many rugs fold

Where lions of waves leaped at the wreck
Tigers of currents growled underside
And the ring master's whip
Could do nothing to save him
And carried it with him
Down to his grave

Now the water is calmer
The storm is over
The tempest has ceased
The river is high up to the border
The banks like the cage of a wild beast

The spectators look on
who have been left to their own doom
After the lion has left the room