Harbour Signal

Original poem

The fog comes in without a tread,
And fog falls fast along the flats;
I hear the horn repeat its thread,
Like needles stitching blind at dawn —
O horn, you call the whole night through,
O horn, too loud to argue with!

I watch your warning split the dark,
But never catch the fog's own mark.
I taste the salt, I feel you drum,
I cannot see from where you come —
O horn, you call the whole night through,
O horn, too loud to argue with!

O voice that will not show your face,
Are you a warning or a grace?
A beast that walks the harbour wall,
Or trouble that the tide must haul?
O horn, you call the whole night through,
O horn, too loud to argue with!