Breaking Promises: Natural Disaster: S&R

The Lone Swimmer

Beneath the gray and battered skies,
A lone swimmer moves, where hope defies.
Twenty-one, with a heart of steel,
An officer sworn to serve and heal.

The sea is cruel, the storm unkind,
Yet duty burns within the mind.
In a Red Cross zone, chaos reigns,
Evacuees cry out in pain.

Two hundred souls, their eyes alight,
With fear that grows as fades the night.
And every hour, a soothing lie,
“Air support is near, hold tight—don’t cry.”

A calm facade, a steady voice,
To give them hope, to grant them choice.
Extraction promised, though none appears,
Yet in his gaze, they banish fears.

Through wind and wave, he swims alone,
A lifeline cast from flesh and bone.
The weight of lives upon his chest,
A S&R badge, a silent crest.

He does not falter, he does not break,
Though each new dawn demands he fake.
A truth unspoken, a burden borne,
To keep their faith through every storm.

The hours stretch, the tempest bites,
Yet he stands firm beneath its might.
A leader forged in trial’s flame,
No medal sought, no need for fame.

For when the storm had run its course,
When chaos waned by nature’s force,
They’ll never know the lies he told,
Or how his courage broke the cold.

A lone swimmer, a guiding hand,
In Red Cross zones, where few would stand.
To those he saved, he’s just a face—
But to the sea, he’s timeless grace.