I tried this one out at the John Rberts house concert at chez Sinsull and folks seemed to like it.

I've done a little more tinkering with the words but this one seems to be settling down:

Poem by Burt Franklin Jenness, from OCEAN HAUNTS, edited by Burt Franklin Jenness,
Empire Publishing Co., New York, US, © 1934, P. 73.
Adapted by Charlie Ipcar 3/16/07
Tune: inspired by "Song for Gale" by Larry Kaplan and "Night Rider's Lament" by Michael Burton
Key: C (7/F)

Mid-Watches

Chorus:

C--------F------------------------------------C
And you climbed the old bridge, looked into the night,
----------F-----------------------------------C
And the wind and the spray stung your face;
------------F---------------------------C-------------Am
While the stars overhead were all dancing and bright –
----------G----------------G7--------C
And the ship plunged a-way into space.

C--------------------------------G------------G7
Will you ever forget the mid-watches at sea?
-----------C---------------------------G
How you tumbled out sleepy and dazed,
------F-------------------------------C-------------Am
And though you maneuvered as still as could be –
----G-------------G7----------C
Re-member the ruckus you raised –
---------F--------------------------------C
As you bumped into hammocks, or stepped on a mate
------------F------------------------C
Who was caulking it off on the deck?
------------F--------------------------C------------Am
Then you hustled up forward for fear you'd be late –
------G------------------G7-----------------C
Your pea-coat pulled snug 'round your neck. (CHO)

Will you ever forget the long tricks at the wheel;
All your thoughts and your plans and your fears?
The things you'd imagine – the dangers you'd feel –
With the creak and the groan of the gears;
How you'd wake with a snap from some dream of the shore,
As a comber loomed ahead ghostly pale,
Or you'd start at the crash and the thundering roar –
As a beam-sea swept over the rail? (CHO)

(Same as the chorus)

And didn't those hours seem lonelier, too,
When the moon and the stars went to bed,
And it seemed, sometimes, there was no one but you –
Sailing into that black hole ahead?

We'll see how it works for a memorial service for an old sailor this weekend.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble