Had we been aboard the Birkenhead,
could we have stood our ground;
giving up our chance to live
so the weaker would not drown?

Were we in the Titanic's band
as her stern rose in the air,
could we have kept on playing
to soothe the doomed souls there?

If we were one of the Sullivans,
five inseperable brothers,
could we choose, as the Juneau sank,
to perish with the others?

To give one's life for others
is more than bravery:
it illumines words like "selfless"
and defines humanity.

The sloping decks of sinking ships
are often times a stage,
to show us what we all might be
when Mankind comes of age.