A couple walked out to a lighthouse
where a notice declared it to be
Le phare du bout du monde,
staring out at a turbulent sea.
The lighthouse was shuttered and empty,
just an obelisk dark on the shore.
Modern ships passed by it quite safely
without need of its light anymore.
The woman said she felt sad for it,
its purpose had been taken away
standing abandoned and derelict,
a lighthouse at the end of its days.
The man put his arm round her shoulder,
for he knew what was troubling her heart
and he tried to lighten her humour
‘It’s not the end of the world…’ he laughed.
‘Don’t always do that!’ the woman responded
‘You belittle my loss! Who am I now?
My children have gone, I’m no longer wanted,
I’m a lighthouse whose lamp has gone out!’
‘Ah my love, it’s not that way really –
our children, though grown, still sail in your light.
And if they sail close to the edge of the sea,
it’s knowing you’re here that keeps them upright.
For thirty five years we’ve stood together,
the two of us like a keen pair of eyes,
shining a light through changeable weather
helping our voyagers sail and survive.’
‘Your simile’s muddled…’ his wife replied,
but smiled as a new thought started to dawn,
‘Although it’s quite true we’ve been side by side
but I’m a lighthouse – you’re a foghorn!’
Laughing together, the tension released,
they lived in their marriage, teasing and fond,
as they turned from the sea and the beach,
and Le phare du bout du monde.
