Lyrics: A Gift from the Sea

A Gift from the Sea      J. Brad Chapman

Feb 1995

Two lovers met on Ngemlis, a rendevous.

She from Ngerkebesang, he from Peleliu.

They frolicked and played in the sun and the waves and the sand.

Till dark, till they slept in the sand, her hand in his hand.

A turtle came out of the sea,

To lay eggs for posterity.

A gift from the sea.

They woke to the song of the birds and the sound of the sea,

But found that her grass skirt was gone,

Oh where can it be?

They searched and they searched

till the sun was straight up at high noon,

Then decided to meet there again,

at the next full moon.

And the turtle crawled back to the sea,

To live its life boundless and free,

a symbol of prosperity, a gift from the sea.

The new moon had come and now they embrace on the beach,

They talk of the future and dreams that they hope to reach.

Then something was out in the water, Oh what could it be?

It was coming their way and they strained their eyes so to see.

The turtle came out of the sea,

To lay eggs for posterity,

The grass skirt was there, so you see,

A gift from the sea.