Scrap

Once an elegant royal

Gliding over the river,

A dancer on the big stage,

Now destined for scrap.

Your fittings melted down;

Your fine linens and furniture

Hauled away to a landfill.

How beautiful

And perfect

Were you,

American Duchess?

Now lingering.

A mere rippling reflection

In noxious, green water.

Soon all that will remain,

Memories of your spirit,

Forgotten by a fickle society

That no longer values history.

Hidden away, out of sight

Like so much else

That grows too old.