On a night much like tonight, and as I stood outside my door,
I heard some sounds that set me tingling,
Much like distant church bells ringing,
A peel for help, was in their clarion,
Ringing round from Heath to town, above the ocean roar,

All who lived in this small Hamlet knew that sound from yore,
It was a knell that would be sounded,
Just before a boat was grounded,
Grounded on the rocky coastline, or the rocky shore,
Signifying danger, it was a sound you can’t ignore.

Next I saw Dan Glover running, to the lifeboat he was manning,
Then his Bosun, John, came through,
Followed by the lifeboats crew,
All in eager expectation of helping those in dire distress,
Sailing out in any weather, braving sea and, nights darkness.

It was many hours later, that these brave lads came ashore,
They had rescued three poor seamen, from a crew of four,
Yet again they’d faced that maelstrom,
All that nature’s wildness came from,
Had faced it and had won, against the odds, and nature’s law.

Damian Cranney

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dangerous-seas-2/