LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS
An Old Saw
This was a popular poem among Lighthouse Keepers. It was given from memory to the Shore Village Museum by Captain Stetson Turner who moved to Great Duck Island Light (off Mt. Desert Island) at age six months; transfered to Bear Island Light at age three until 1938.
Lighthouse keepers have it easy,
All year round their homes are breezy.
Noises don't disturb their labors,
For they haven't any neighbors.
They don't need baskets for old papers
Orange peels or gaskets,
Just one careless motion
And their trash drops in the ocean.
They don't need nine holes or twenty,
They get exercise aplenty.
Each trip up the spiral stairway,
Equals three around the fairway.
Window shades are never needed,
They can dress or strip unheeded.
Wakeful brat don't have conniptions,
Neighbors don't have long descriptions.
When I am old I won't need pity,
I shall leave the sullied city,
Climb a lighthouse, bar the door,
And trim my wicks for evermore.
Purloined from "This *?#!*@*? Was The Coast Guard" by Esther Stormer ©1986