Lighthouse: Taiaroa Heads
By Marion Jones
The Keeper polished the many facets
of glass, lighted paraffin lamps,
filled a revolving drum to detonate,
when heavy cloud came down.
In stormy weather, a fishing boat entered
the heads and overturned. The Keeper
radioed the Patrol, raised the standard,
"Man Overboard''. For twenty minutes,
the Keeper stood on the cliff above
the man, who never stopped screaming.
The Patrol threw a buoy but the man
failed to fasten himself with the rope.
The Keeper left the lighthouse to live
in a house behind the dunes. At night,
when heavy waves crashed on the sand,
he heard that voice calling, calling.
• Marion Jones is a Dunedin writer.
