Lighthouse Keepers Lighthouse keepers have it easy    All year long their homes are breezy; Noises don’t disturb their labors,    For they haven’t any neighbors. They don’t need big wastebaskets    For old papers, orange peels, or gaskets; Just one careless motion    And their trash drops in the ocean. They don’t need nine holes or twenty,    They get exercise aplenty; One trip up the spiral stairway    Equals three around the fairway. Window shades are never needed,    They can dress or strip unheeded; Wakeful brats don’t have conniptions,    Neighbors don’t give long descriptions. When I’m old and don't need pity,    I shall leave the sullied city, Climb a lighthouse, bar the door,    And trim my wicks forevermore. ··· Captain Stetson Turner ···

Portsmouth Light

Web Author’s note: A popular Light-keepers poem that was told to the staff of the Shore Village Museum (Maine’s Lighthouse Museum) from memory by Captain Stetson Turner whose father was a Light-keeper of Bear Island Lighthouse, Maine in the 1930s. Web page format and content, excluding the poem, Copyright ©2001 to 2003 by Debbie Dolphin. Document Updated: Tuesday, Dec 02, 2003, 05:02:00pm EST (-5GMT)