White Rock

The Great Spirit made this place

Here warriors of an ancient race

Did find respect from life's swift pace

At times ordained by tribal mores

They gathered on its favoured shores

To feast and forget feuds and wars

At White Rock.

It was a war of modern day

That made me chance to stray that way

To linger by its tide-washed bay,

With flower-filled gardens looking down

At white-capped seascape all wind blown.

It seemed a sort of friendly town,

This White Rock.

The restless sea was quite a change

From timber tail and bunch grass range

I mused "Mayhap I could arrange

From Army life a short release

To bask in sun and ocean breeze,

Tarry awhile and take my ease

In White Rock."

A woman fair I chanced to meet

With laughing eyes and twinkling feet.

On the dance floor it was a treat

To swing her in the old time style,

Laughing and teasing all the while.

She had a most engaging smile

In White Rock.

When Pagan moon lit all the land

We walked together hand in hand,

Where whispering wavelets meet the sand

She kissed me once then said goodbye.

There all alone once more was I,

My laughter ended in a sigh

At White Rock.

She left me standing on the shore,

The ways of women pondering o'er. 

(I never was wise in female lore.)

And so she walked away from me,

Leaving but a memory

Of the things that used to be

At White Rock.

As she swung across the sand,

Lima revealed upon her hand

A ring, 'twas just a plain gold band

I knew then, mine she could not be.

One careless kiss she gave to me,

A gem from pagan treasury

At White Rock.

In turreted hall beside the Rhine

I sat and sipped the good white wine;

Nectar of grape from fruitful vine,

They say on earth it has no peer.

But I'm no connoisseur I fear.

I'd sooner drink the Tudors beer

Near White Rock.

With others of a warring band

I rode the waste of burning sand

Of many a storied desert land.

I cursed each blistering sun drenched grain

Wishing that I was back again,

Facing the spring time's gentle rain

At White Rock.

In Pharaoh's Land at Cairo Town,

With famous shepherds I sat down.

The cuisine is of world renown.

For those who like in style to dine,

Such splurging is no doubt just fine.

I'll take a hamburger for mine

In White Rock.

I idled on a coral strand.

Palm crowned by nature's lavish hand,

As surging combers drummed the sand

Like straws by careless breezes-blown,

My vagrant thoughts strayed to a town.

I wished that I was going down

To White Rock.

Some day, if fate is kind to me,

Once more I'll walk beside the sea,

Hoping that my reward will be

To see an oft remembered face

That cheered my way for a brief space,

A golden moment in that place

Called White Rock.