To be read aloud --

If something should happen

for instance

if the sea should break

and crash against the decks

and below decks break the cargo

against the sides of the sea

or

if the chains should break

and crash against the decks

and below decks break the sides

of the sea

or 

if the seas of cities

should crash against each other

and break the chains

and break the walls holding down the cargo

and break the sides of the seas

and all the waters of the earth wash together

in a rush of breaking

where will the captains run and

to what harbor?

               --Lucille Clifton, Good Times (1969)