BEASTLY TALES

IN THE DARK

A lighthouse keeper, smitten by habitual sleeplessness.
His sleeping habits in a bit of a mess!
“I can’t get to sleep, on account of that light!”
“Twisting and turning, all through the night.”
“I know that the light is a boon to all shipping,
“But flashing every five seconds leaves me my blankets tight gripping.”
“And then there’s the fog horn, for when light can’t be seen,”
“I find the combination unbelievably obscene!”
“How can I sleep, with all that going on?”
“While that fog horn really gets in my scone!”
“If I expire, then, there will be no light.”
“So arguably, I do have every right,”
“To turn these appliances off, now and then,”
“So I can snore away, like a bear in it’s den.”
And such is exactly what he did do,
Insomnia defeated, while sleep he did pursue.
The problem was that ships Masters became confused,
As vital navigational aids, to them, were refused.
The lighthouse sat atop foreboding cliffs
With savage seas pounding huge rocks in violent miffs.
One morning the keeper was awakened by a Ship’s Captain,
Angrily standing by the lighthouse door he had rapped on!
Dripping wet, from the seas savage surf,
He had swum to the shore for all he was worth.
“What the tarnation do you think you are doing?”
“Switching off the lighthouse when we are pursuing,”
“Our livelihood on the Bounding Main,”
“Please do not allow it to happen again!”