Who'll Pay the Piper?

Ah Tina! Ii got into this like a movie! K xx

Unfortunately Kadai - a movie it was not. One hundred and sixty seven men lost their lives that day.

My husband too had worked on that rig, although fortunately, he was not there that day.

Thanks for reading.

Tina

Wow no wonder it was so real life then!
Your details add my imagination Tina!
I cant see what you've changed?
Love all the details reading it again
sticklebricks, the pause here
She can’t be hearing this.
It’s a mistake; it has to be...

a nightmare she’d soon
wake up from. And then
& the horror movie part:
in the water like apples
at Halloween...As flames
from the blazing oil-rig
lick the blades of a chopper,
as it circles one mile high.
Its still scary, yet now reading the last stanza is not so sad to me. K

yeh, remember it well. I was staying with my pals in Aberdeen. They worked on the rig. His sister's boyfriend was killed. She died a few years later, in a fire, having bought a hotel with the compensation.

Grim, but good. Not easy to make a good poem out of something so tragic :-(

A tragic story, celticman, and indeed, the tragedy was the worst of its kind in terms of human loss and remains so this day.

My husband spent most of the late seventies and early eighties in and around Aberdeen, commissioning safety systems on various oil-plaforms. The one that sticks in his mind most, was the Heather Platform with its 'Floatel' called 'The Treasure Hunter'.

Thanks for reading and for your memories.

Tina

Thanks for reading, Steve.

Yes, you are right - not an easy subject to write about, but one I have been working on for quite some time. 'Lest we forget', as they say.

Tina;-)

Hi Tina, how are you? Was this inspired by the BP oil disaster or that it was the anniversary of that tragedy on the 6th of July? Whatever it was, it brought back painful memories of all those lives lost and the heartbreak that the disaster brought.
A sad topic which you handled well.

Luigi xxx

Hi there, Luigi;-) I'm fine, thanks, and trust that you too are in fine fettle.

You ask an interesting question.

Obviously, the BP oil disaster brings back to me, and to all of us, the dangers etc. of off-shore oil production. But the main inspiration for this poem, I guess, was finding a painting in our loft recently, that we bought at a hotel in Aberdeen of the Heather oil platform where my husband was part of the commissioning team in the early eighties.

So, I dusted it off, and hence, this poem;-)

Tina xxx

Aaw thats lovely Tina! :) xx K

I think so too, Kadai. Have a good weekend;-)

Tina xx

'And then
she sees them – the riggers,
the engineers...dozens of heads
seared by the heat, bobbing
in the water like apples
at Halloween...'

- love the powerful images in this stanza, Tina. A truly sad tale, but one well told ;)

Magic xxx

Thanks for that, Magic. This was way before your time, of course, but as you will have gathered by recent events in the States, some things, unfortunately, never change.

Tina xxx

Your words and thoughts more than appreciated. Thank you so very much;-)

Tina

This poem brought back memories. A close relative works on the rigs and I vividly remember the Piper Alpha tragedy. A difficult subject which you've handled very well.

Kib - my thanks to you for reading, and for sharing your memories of that terrible day.

Tina

You handle a still delicate subject with a subtle and understanding hand very well done!
:)

Darkenwolf - I value your comments highly;-) Thanks so very much.

Tina

you are most very welcome - i enjoy reading your work
;)