Simona Carini
Simona Carini was born in Perugia, Italy. She writes poetry and nonfiction and has been published in various venues, in print and online. Her first poetry collection Survival Time was published by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions (2022). She lives in Northern California with her husband, loves to spend time outdoors, and works as an academic researcher. Her website is https://simonacarini.com
The Head Lightkeeper Contemplates Retirement
The Point Cabrillo Light Station lens was illuminated for the first time on June 10, 1909, under
head keeper Wilhelm Baumgartner
head keeper Wilhelm Baumgartner
I lit the lamp at midnight the first time,
then every sunset for going on 14 years,
every two hours cranked the chain onto the drum
to keep the light’s rotation, its signature a flash
every ten seconds, kept the fog signal on,
two blares then silence for 24 seconds.
A dance of siren and flashing light.
Our charge to warn ships away
from shallow reefs and rocky shores.
I know in my bones if something isn’t right:
a speck of dirt on the lens, a stutter
in my heart. One day I’ll pass the honor
of tending the station to another
lay monk devoted to lamplight and siren,
to prevent bodies from becoming souls,
illuminate their moment of darkness,
sound the horn of heaven when fog
shrouds them, show the way when they are lost.
I’m contemplating retirement.
I will miss the ocean’s briny smell,
waves crushing against the bluff one day,
the next a deep blue blanket rippling in the sun,
western gulls’ loud calls, sea lions barking,
spouts and flukes of migrating gray whales.
I’m ready to yield to a craving for a clockless life,
a full night’s sleep in silent darkness.
But what rituals will measure my hours,
what calling rule them,
whose lamp will I keep alight?
According to the Archives of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, Wilhelm Baumgartner died in 1923,
aged 60, while still Principal Lighthouse Keeper at Point Cabrillo
