Accidents

On the verge
of the unthinkable,
the iceberg turns unsinkable
to the hull. The buoying force
of water reverses pull
the precise moment
we’re short a few lifeboats
to get home in.
On contact, the accident
doesn’t change,
claims Thomas Aquinas;
it’s a shift in substance
as when sipped wine
becomes sanguine
against the lip,
what’s manifest
of the great mass
of which liquid
in the vessel
is just the tip.