The Surfman’s Song
Along the cold and lonely coast
In storms the surfmen wander
Watching for the sailing ships
That flounder in the water
Through lonely, cold and stormy nights
The surfmen watch the tide
For if a ship wrecks on the coast
They go out to rescue lives
On a bitter winter night
A storm batters the shore
The surfmen huddle round the fire
As the wind rattles the door
Their comrade bursts into the room
The snow thick on his coat
And in a breathless voice he says
“There’s a ship wrecked off the coast”
The keeper jumps up from his chair
A grimness in his eye
“Come boys, we have work to do!”
He glares up at the sky
“Go fetch the boats!” he orders now
“Though the night be chill and black,
Our orders say we must go out
Nothing ’bout coming back”
They drag the boat down to the beach
Where the waves crash on the sand
They push the boat into the surf
As the wind stiffens their hands
Then to the ship the surfmen row
Though the sea fights with all her might
For on the wind the sailor’s cries
Call them into the night
The waves crash hard and thundering
The wind shrieks shrill and long
The snow flies down in flurries chill
Rain freezes where it falls
But the surfmen still pull on their oars
And pay no heed to the gale
Seven sailors need their aid
In the snow, the sleet and hail
They reach the ship that’s going down
And pull the sailors in
Then back to shore they set their sights
And row into the wind
They come to shore and to their fire
To rest upon the land
The keeper still is looking out
In case they’re needed ‘gain
Along the cold and lonely coast
In storms the surfmen wander
Watching for the sailing ships
That flounder in the water
Through lonely, cold and stormy nights
The surfmen watch the tide
For if a ship wrecks on the coast
They go out to rescue lives
Tuppence Van de Vaarst (2nd Place in Poetry)