Poem: The Face Of The Sea

The Face of the Sea

By  J. Brad Chapman

As I stand at the helm and gaze out on the calm

There’s something intriguing to me,

That the subtlest breeze blowing over the deep,

Can change the kind face of the sea.

From glassy to ripple and ripple to wave,

The movement of air is so slight,

But little by little the breeze gathers strength

Till breakers reach dangerous heights.

Many a seaman have awoke to the dawn

Of a beautiful, calm, cloudless day,

Only to find as they bask in the sun

A storm building right in their way.

They’d let down their guard as the sea state was mild,

They’d forgotten how harsh it could be,

And now with tempestuous winds gaining strength

They’d meet the wroth face of the sea.

With sail unreefed and hatch unsecured

Preparations undone or in haste,

The sea doesn’t wait for convenience or ease

And they’re caught in the storm’s fierce embrace.

The trials of life are like strengthening storms,

We don’t notice the threat till too late,

‘Cause we sail content on the calm seas of life

And we sit back and seal our fate.

And so with the thunderous waves pounding in,

We forget in the midst of our strife,

That the tempest began with just one gentle breeze

And we learn a great lesson of life.

We learn that a lifestyle of comfort and ease

Makes us soft and complacent and weak.

We need that brisk wind blowing stiff in our face

To keep us alive at our peak.

So greet the wild gale and square up to the wind,

Prepare for the storms that may be

From glassy to ripple and ripple to wave

Respect the kind face of the sea.







Under Construction

The inspiration for this poem came from a career of watching the surface of the water from the bridge of a vessel.  The colors of the blue sky and clouds as they are reflected off of a glassy smooth sea are, to me, breathtakingly beautiful. (as I am sure they are to many people)

After moving from Alaska to Nevada, I was one day watching gusts of wind touch down on the glassy surface of Lake Mead from a paddle-wheel tour boat. The patterns that the wind gusts created on the smooth surface of the lake were intriguing and I realized that I was seeing the birth of a storm. Areas the size of a small house would become textured with small ripples as the gusts would hit the surface of the lake. Earlier in the day I had heard a wind warning over the radio. During that time, while reading in the Pearl of Great Price,  I read in Moses 2:2, "and I caused darkness to come up on the face of the sea". In Abraham 4:2,  "and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep". So that is how the name of the poem and the idea for the imagery were born. I have always been deeply moved by the beauty and majesty of the Savior's creation, the ocean and seas, rivers and streams. through the authority and direction of His and our Father in Heaven. As a young boy, I gazed in amazement out over the pacific ocean from La-Jolla Cove and the school of oceanography, Scripps Institute, where my parents took us often during winter vacation when they were trying to get a rest and diversion from Utah's cold winters.

Seeing the storm building on Lake Mead, I also remembered the conference talk where President Hinckley talked about a portent of bad weather on the horizon. This was in the _________GC which of course was shortly after the September 11th tragedy. This was around 2007-2008 and of course the recession was just around the corner. Our company was starting to feel the effects of the coming bad economy.

As a new whale watch vessel captain in Alaska, I was one day taking 50 cruise-ship tourists out into Sitka Sound to view Sea Otters and Humpback whales. As I left the protection of the small islands on the edge of the sound the seas became rougher. It was a foggy day and I was using radar to navigate through the murky gray. As I got out into the open water I realized that my radar was starting to malfunction.  A tinge of anxiety hit me as I thought of the danger of trying to navigate back into the myriad of islands around Sitka on my way back after the tour without a functioning radar. Then, out it went! The screen went blank. I don't know at what point the prayer in my heart was born, but the spirit whispered confidence in my ear as the memory of the Micronesian Islanders ways of primitive navigation. came to mind. 

Storms can build, oh, so fast. (Utah Lake Experience with my Dad)