The Cape St. George Light

A poem dedicated to the preservation of America's historic lighthouses

The Cape St. George Light
By: J. A. Stevens


In Eighteen Hundred Fifty-two
On a long forgotten strand
They raised the Cape St. George’s light
On an island made of sand

Its pilings were sunk deeply
The masons built it tough
For the storms that battered the cotton coast
Were wild, fell and rough

For a hundred years this sentinel stood
And fifty three besides
A veteran of countless hurricanes
And a hundred thousand tides

Eight miles off the mainland
In Apalachicola bay
It’s slender beam was kindled
As it tirelessly showed the way

For sailors it safeguarded
As it kept them from the shells
Fisherman, shrimpers, crabbers too
And the pleasure boating swells

But alas the lighthouse stood there
As the island washed away
It listed like a drunken sailor
Heedless of judgment day

They righted it but briefly
For the tempests came again
And knocked the lofty beacon down
Like so many of its kin

But those there were who loved it
And could not bear it unlit
They built anew the George’s light
For our children’s benefit

(32 lines)

http://www.stgeorgelight.org/index.cfm/m/16

Reviews

[Serenity Faith]

Beautiful ^_^ And your descriptions were brilliant.
"For a hundred years this sentinel stood
And fifty three besides
A veteran of countless hurricanes
And a hundred thousand tides"
My favorite. Keep up the amazing work!