The Tale of the Good Ship Marguerite LouiseA tale of two ships on Lake Michigan on a cold November Night. For my father D. Jack who knows all there is to know about the ships of Lake Michigan and who likes a good story.
stranglehold cold wind and rain
mute dull foghorn moan
rising banshee storm shriek
drowns alarm's warning groan
feeble fading lighthouse beam
struggles, fails and strains
in fog clogged unlit night
and driving, blinding rains
freighter D. Jack out on the lake
as November gales begin
headed for the haven
unaware of the danger within
no beaming light across the water
nothing seen in darkning drear
no moon marked rocks to alert
around us sail and not too near
nothing heard in dead cold fog
of steady, sounding alarum gong
muted bell tolls a death knell
of disaster 'fore ere long
searchlight flickering fizzling out
tempest waters dead ahead
no saving beam on empty sky
close the book and mourn the dead
blame the deadening pea-soup fog
blame the storm that tossed night
blame the winter for coming too soon
blame the waning of the light
sing the song of blinding dark
mourn the D. Jack's ending doom
lament the brave ship dashed and torn
finis, death, in the drowning room
But pause a moment this tale's end
hold a bit the death bell knell
consider a mystery, too low for heaven
but just as much too high for hell
old ship Marguerite Louise sits in ruin
safe within dark deadly walls
invisible beneath the foggy shroud
silent under deafening squalls
then occurred the thing so odd
something in the very waves
woke Marguerite Louise from her slumber
to save those men from watery graves
Warn them, Marguerite and make them hear
bang your moorings, jangle your chains
Raise a ruckus above the storm
Drown out those roaring killer rains
She answered the call, the D. Jack was saved
she was heard on down the coast
and clear across lake Michigan
so the old ones loved to boast
Now she sits still rusting and silent
but what possessed the old ship night
shades of sinners or visions of saints
dark demons or heaven's saving light?
Sailors lost are nevertheless gone
however varied be the clime
Do some come back to warn others
just in the nick of time?
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