Mixed signals

I found my stated point of view  
not a floating premise far away    
solid in the facts I knew    
that horizon ever clear    
    
Did I consider empathy    
discontent to rend and be concealed    
for the tormented lives of those in need    
floundering in trouble's depth    
     
Will they smile and say, I'm OK    
 clothes left on the beach, neat laid    
the final dip, as out they wade    
and say goodby in signs denied    
     
 Titanic toward the iceberg churned    
such merriment, the danger spurned    
 signs to wave or drown, questions unconfirmed    
each signal fits it own background    
     
Stevie Smith's poem - Not waving but drowning