White Squall

[unixronin]

Stan Rogers' White Squall has been on my mind lately, for no special reason that I'm aware of.

Well it's just my luck to have the watch with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the Soo
And wonder when they'll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

The kid was so damn eager, it was all so big and new
I never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do
And evenings on the mess deck, he was always first to sing
And show us pictures of the girl he'd met in spring

But I told that kid a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall

Now it's a thing that us old-timers know, in the sultry summer calm
There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb
And a fifteen thousand tonner can be thrown upon her beam
While the gale takes all before it with a scream

The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky
From where I stood, I swear I could see tears fall from his eyes
So I hadn't the heart to tell him that he should be on a line
Even on a night so warm and kind

But I told that kid a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall

When it struck, he sat up with a start
I roared to him, "Get down!"
But for all that he could hear, I could as well not made a sound
So I clung there to the stanchions, and I felt my face go pale
As he crawled hand over hand along the rail

Now I could feel her heeling over with the fury of the blow
And I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow
Then like some great dog, she shook herself and roared upright again
While overside, I heard him call my name

But I told that kid a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall

So it's just my luck to have the watch with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the Soo
And wonder when they'll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale

And I tell these kids a hundred times, don't take the lakes for granted
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall
And her lover's gone into a white squall

The phenomenon that lakemen call a white squall is well known, but incompletely understood.  Possibly the most substantial theory is that it's the water-level effect of a microburst like the ones that have been periodically known to slap airliners out of the sky on final approach.

Comments

[anda.livejournal.com]

No real comment here except "thanks for the cut".