Ocean Falls Museum - Poetry of Sulphate Jack

Ocean Falls

Where Pacific Mills are standing
By the Inlet near the Sound
Where the wheels of pulp industry
Keep turning all year 'round.

Where the rugged ridge of Rockies
Stems the Inlet 'til it stalls
Lying nestled in the Valley
Lies the town of Ocean Falls.

It's a town of song and laughter
Folks contented with their lot,
With all the modern ways of living
That the city folks have got,

It's a town of friendly spirit
Where people meet in cheerful tone,
Where the laws of class distinction
To its folks are still unknown.

It's a place where Mill and Worker
Always meet on common ground,
To discuss their mutual problems
In a way that's rarely found,

It's a town of work a-plenty
For the men who do and will
Each proud of the part he's playing
In the future of the Mill.

It's a town of recreation,
Swimming pool and tennis court,
Where the old and young together
Mix in every kind of sport

It's a town where education
Plays a most important part,
Where the younger generation
Is assured a splendid start.

Where Pacific Mills are busy
And keep humming day by day,
Where the rugged ridge of Rockies
Stands as sentinels o'er the bay.

Where the Adelaide, the Rupert,
And the Union steamship calls,
You will always find warm welcome
In the town of Ocean Falls.

Old Baldy

Old Baldy looks down, surveying the town
Like a sentinel outlined in the sky,
His bald-headed dome of granite and stone
Caressed by the clouds drifting by.

He has stood for decades, watching shy Indian maids
Make love to their braves in the dell,
He saw Ocean Falls raise its first shanty walls,
And Pacific Mills crack through the shell.

He saw ships by the score, sail into shore
As progress kept pace with the years;
Still stands as the flow of men, come and go,
And shares in their hopes and their fears.

Nations may rise in their enterprise,
While others may fall or bend;
But let years bring what may, 'till eternity
Old Baldy will stand to the end.

Graveyard

I'm downhearted, tired and weary
As I wander across the bridge,
Old Baldy grins down, as he takes in the town,
With that snow cape over his ridge.

I am going to work at midnight,
Soaked to the hide in the rain;
And I swear by the gods that whatever the odds
I'll never do graveyard again.

Then I find myself in the locker,
Some guys are discussing their bonds,
While a kid in his teens is changing his jeans
As he raves about redheads and blondes.

Then somehow I don't feel so weary,
And my spirits they don't seem so low,
As a guy with a grin says "Up with your chin,
Only two nights of graveyard to go."

Two weeks later, again it is midnight,
Again I am crossing the bridge,
Old Baldy grins down, again as I frown,
While the stars peek over his ridge.

Yes, again I am back on graveyard,
But this time there ain't no rain,
Still I swear by the gods that whatever the odds
I'll never do graveyard again.

Pay Day at Ocean Falls

The sharks will be betting them high tonight
With the suckers backing the odds;
The boys will be rolling the ivory bones,
Their fate in the lap of the gods.
The pool room sharks will be chalking their cues
As they keep their eye on the balls;
Hell will be popping in town tonight,
For it's pay day in Ocean Falls.

The barkeep will wipe the sweat off his brow,
His waiters will openly scowl,
As some guy insists he's a timber wolf,
And this is his night to howl.
The girls will be dressed in their Sunday best
As they wait 'til the boyfriend calls;
Apartment Six will be whooping it up
For it's pay day in Ocean Falls.

So I'll dust off the suit that used to be blue,
And the hat that used to be brown;
I'll don a clean shirt and a polka dot tie,
And take me a stroll around town.
I'll visit the parlour and buy me a drink,
Drop in at the different halls;
For hell will be popping till the crack of dawn,
It's pay day in Ocean Falls.

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