The Lighthouse
The lighthouse stood above the rocks,
A column built for warning,
Pulsing rays into the haze,
Through savage weather storming,
The hillock rocks a whale’s back,
On wild, sandblasted shores,
Set against the Finnmark coast,
And heather covered moors,
The lighthouse keeper traced the steps,
Up to the oil lamp winding,
And set the parafinn ablaze,
To keep the lamplight blinding,
And of a night the pelting rain,
Would clamour on the slats,
Awaking Kip, the keeper’s dog,
And sundry northern bats,
Fifty ships had come and gone,
Averting shipwreck sorrow,
And every time the keeper,
Celebrated on the morrow,
One evening though the oil ran dry,
Depleted to a vapour,
The lighthouse keeper drunk with gin,
And clutching the hearth scraper,
And coursing in, a cargo ship,
The bold Desiderata,
Severed from her sister ships,
In the vast regatta,
The vision of the captain,
But a wall of blackest pitch,
Crazed with spray and dismal grey;
His senses to bewitch,
Up against the jagged reef,
The vessel duly crashed,
The heaving hull a splintered shell,
In jetsam pieces smashed,
Kip, the dog, alert and wise,
Espied the bitter scene,
And woke his master with a bark,
And struck him from his dream,
Persistent yelps and biting nips,
Attacked his lethargy,
Tugging him to wakefulness,
His paws upon his knee,
The keeper leapt up to his feet,
And heeding his wild dog,
Followed him outside the door,
Into the spray and fog,
A dozen yelps and dismayed yaps,
Towards the wretched ship,
Had the keeper galvanised,
To action in a blip,
He grabbed the lifebuoy from its hook,
And ran unto the reef,
Desperate to find the men,
And rescue them from grief,
Here I say, without delay,
Please grasp the lifebuoy flying!
Put thy arms around the tube,
Unless ye sink to dying!
Three had perished in the surf,
Another three were flailing,
When through the rain dashed air there came,
The precious lifebuoy sailing,
Three alive and three he gathered,
From the shallows seething,
Every sailor gasping loud,
And vehemently wheezing,
All along the rocks they crept,
Back to the lighthouse warm,
Every precious soul delivered,
From the raging storm!
AD Lovkis, 25/05/25
adamdaniel 