The Tempest Charmer
What is to say of Bluebird Heights?
‘Twas once a proud, majestic town
Three fisheries and a lovely beach
Restaurants, shops, and surf abound
People from each and every corner–
Yes folks from all around
Flocked to grand ol’ Bluebird Heights
To breathe in deep the ocean sounds
But this tiny island’s luck ran dry
(As luck is wont to do)
The fisheries stopped catching fish
The buildings were boarded up to rot
The shops no longer baubles sold–
Ships rusted in the harbor too!
Most people fled that tiny place
Leaving too-few souls in run-down lots
The Mayor, a Mister Lou-Regard
Sought to restore to former splendor
Bluebird Heights, that grinning skull–
A once lovely and successful spot
And did his best to bring in cash
From tourists, artists, any spenders
To rebuild to sit upon the throne
To make Bluebird’s disintegration stop
He tried great fairs and carnivals
He tried to bring young couples there
By proposing a new, romantic place–
Nights on the beach, the Hotel Lou
He tried to open up the town
He tried and tried and with great care
Build his grand hotel and said,
“Good for you—your lover too!”
So money crept back into Bluebird
In the purses and pockets of young love
So mesmerized by sand and sea
To honeymoon in lovely peace
And a pier soon sprung up close- nearby
With a glorious, glowing Ferris Wheel
All pretty lights turning slow
In the night under a full-blue moon
And people came from all around
To Hotel Lou, and then to feel
The night air and hear the tumblin’ sea
‘Round the Ferris Wheel and Fairgrounds too
Mayor Regard Smiled wide
He had saved old rundown Bluebird Heights
And worked for many days and nights
And now all had paid off
The Heights, they did grow prosperous
And made mem’ries of of a wonderful time
Bluebird Heights was a source of life, of pride
‘Til Hurricane Raskolnikov
With the storm the sea, perhaps mad at Lou
Rose up and struck the hotel in two!
For having the grand and haughty nerve
To build a hotel against the surf
And after several days of raging tides
The Pier was now in ruins, gone
And Mayor Lou wept at the wreck
Of his famous Lover’s Quarter, dead
Sands had marched deep inland
Choked up the streets and broke down doors
It generally made a mess of things
Leaving Bluebird much as it had been before
It seemed the final bell had tolled at last
Surely Bluebird Heights could not be saved!
The people left for drier lands
Save for Mayor Lou– alone he stayed.
He tried with feeble strength to fix
All that the cruel storm had brought down
But gave up and sat on a weathered horse
Of a hopelessly broken merry-go-round
Lou sighed and cursed and spit and raged–
It was simply wrong– he had so cared!
For the lovey spot he had build by hand
Was no longer lovely, whole, or fair.
It was in his grief that Lou did hear
The crunching sound of coming feet–
A slender man in a pinstripe suit
Was walking towards the Mayor with great care.
He said, “I am a Tempest Charmer, I sing ocean songs–
“I can control the sea…
“To make sure she does no further harm
“To you, sir, and ever-still…
“What if I could say in truth
“That we could be busy as the bees
“I know many who would find the Heights
“A great and fun and welcome thrill!”
Mayor Lou Regard did jump for joy–
He could hardly believe his luck!
He thought he had a stone dead-town
He thought for sure he was surely stuck!
“Go man, go!” barked Mayor Lou
“Bring them, good sir, to me!
“We will rebuild this lovely town!
“With no fear of the sea- such luck!”
The suited man smiled; he nodded slow
And closed his teal-blue eyes
Feet pressed in sand and hands raised high
He sang sweetly to sea and skies.
Lou, he knew the language not
Though it rang calm with pleasant tones
And as the Tempest Charmer spoke
The sea began to groan and with foamy head
Lou scrambled to the Ferris Wheel
Climbed high and hid his head
Had he not been the only one
Others would have been struck dead
He sat shaking in the the highest seat
And the sea, she reached the rim
And just then in the nick of time
She receded- not one drop seeped in
Then from high-atop the Ferris Wheel
He spied a busy scene–
Of revelers and happy folk
So many human beings!
Lou hastened down the rusted frame
And put his feet upon soaking ground
He saw again the Tempest Charmer
And those he brought around.
The Charmer’s suit, it was waterlogged
And he was missing one teal-blue eye
His lips were gone and a forever-grin
Of teeth met Lou’s wide eyes– the sea made not a sound
Around him others, soaking too
Poor Souls once lost at sea
Sailors, suitors and their mates
Had been called up from the deep
A lady in a flowing dress
Tossed a baseball at stacked, wet pins
Her skin was pale-ish blue and wet
And when she did hit them
A gentleman draped in sea-grass smiled
And pulled from off a shelf
A soaking, mildewed teddy-bear–
The woman hugged it to herself
It struck then old Mayor Lou
Much like a speeding train
That none of this could be happening–
He had clearly gone insane.
“No, my friend,” The Charmer said,
“This, I promise, is no dream…
“These are all the sea’s lost souls,
“Please do not let loose a scream.”
“You see their days were all cut short–
“They hadn’t a chance to live
“Full and satisfying lives–
“And they had so much left to give!”
“Now you are safe from Sister Sea,”
Said the Charmer with his grin,
“For She had already once claimed these souls
“And will not do so again.
“My sister wept o’er the lives she took
“And she left it up to me–
“My name is Death, tasked to find a home
“For the souls she doth pity.”
“My brother Sky, he’ll take them not,
“And my sister she’s yet weeping
“So it’s to your town I’ve come at last
“With the dead she shan’t be keeping.”
“So I s’pose sir, what I’m saying is
“This is now our town–
“But please understand, our Mayor dear
“We beg thee, stay around.”
Mayor Lou, he smelled the briny scent
He heard the distant weeping of the waves
And looked upon the pathetic horde
In all stages of decay
He gazed around he once-whole pier
And his hotel, long split in two
And what his saw, well it warmed his heart
(As he could be a sappy fool)
He saw the dead reveling in his pier!
And resting in his hotel!
Strolling hand in hand down the walking-boards
Browsing Baubles, priced to sell
He saw a turned-blue little girl
Who giggled as she chased
A playful, sea-claimed little dog
Who would not be out-paced.
He saw at last just what he needed–
Life in his little town
And though it took the dead to bring it
He would gladly accept the crown!
He smiled at the Tempest Charmer
And shook his bony hand,
“I will stay on as your Mayor–
“I am honored to lead this land.”
* * *
Bluebird heights was abandoned long
At least to mainland folk
Though braver souls still ventured out
If just to sneak a look
What they report is no surprise–
It is just as one expects
That the town is surely derelict
With but one exception yet–
Mayor Lou still walks about
In his tattered Mayor’s clothes
He makes grand speeches and shakes the hands
Of unseen and unheard ghosts
Oh, he talks and laughs and carries on
Now an old man with toothy grin
And though long abandoned and rusted through
Still the Ferris Wheel does spin.
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