By RAHN ADAMS
for Joseph R. Biden Jr.
At the edge of the ocean / On the cusp of sea and sky and spit / Lived the old lighthouse keeper; / Ever faithful Charlie Swan kept the Cape Fear beacon lit.
Three square little houses / In a row with unobstructed ocean views, / Like pieces on a game board, / Sheltered Captain Charlie and his beach-borne lifesaving crews.
This fearsome washboard of shoals / Has always sent swabbies to their knees / On the decks of sailing ships / Seeking safe harbor from dark or stormy seas.
That blessed beacon in its day / Was more than hope and saving grace; / It was a confident beam, / A blinding pinpoint of trust in that barren, windswept place.
But the captain and his light are gone; / God only knows where his crewmen now abide. / Left are their vacant dwellings / With sand and sunflowers on every side.