Operation Iceberg

Just finished Autumnwatch and wonderful sequences of birds around Snettisham - great programme and then on came a fabulous BBC documentary about an iceberg floating south. Wonderful photography and, yes, Chris Packham again (I like him!)
Anyway it reminded me of this poem which I found moving and poignant:

On a cold rainy night on a Liverpool quayside
In the years before the Great War
The world was in shock at the loss of Titanic
So proud had they been days before.
Relatives gathered for news of their loved ones,
To read through the list of the dead,
When into the throng came a sad-eyed Polar Bear,
And to the clerk at the counter he said…

Chorus:

Have you got any news of the iceberg?
My family were on it you see,
Have you got any news of the iceberg?
They mean the whole world to me.

My wife and children were coming from Greenland
To be by my side in the zoo.
Belinda's my wife and the eldest's called Bernard, and Billy, well, he's only two.
I know on the ship there were hundreds of people,
And I know the iceberg's not yours,
The Polar Bear's eyes held the start of his teardrops
He covered his face with his paws.

It's been over a year since I last saw my children,
I left home to build my career:
I've worked very hard, I'm a star in the circus,
It's all been for nothing I fear.
There's my face on the poster,
We're in town this week.
My Children were meeting me here.

Everyone watched as he struggled to speak.
By now all the people had gathered beside him,
His grief was one they could share,
The people around him in silence and sadness,
Listened to the sad Polar Bear.
I wanted my children to see me performing,
And Belinda, she would have been proud.
At last, lost for words and his tears flowing freely,
The question was asked by the crowd.

Chorus:

Have you got any news of the iceberg?
My family were on it you see:
Have you got any news of the iceberg?
They mean the whole world to me.

Do watch these on iPlayer if you didn't see them, BBC photography at its best in wildlife programmes as always