I intended this rethink of Javolenus’ improv to be a song, and it became an instrumental.

Here are the unused lyrics if anyone cares to give it a go.

We sailed out of Thunder Bay

January locked the harbour tight

Ice stacked up like a bad idea

White knuckles on a blackened night

Captain said, “Cast the lines off clean”

Steel hull starts to shudder and sway

There’s a grain ship stuck in Duluth

And we’re the ones to clear the way


Engines pushing through the night

Rendezvous at morning light

January sun comes up slow

Yellow sky like a warning sign

Captain tells her, “Hold your ground”

Deck watch out on the port-side rail

Just making sure the math holds up

So steel don’t meet steel and fail

Radio crackles, breath hangs white

Every eye is taking measure

This lake’s been breaking men a long, long time

So we cut, cut, cut through the cold

Through the drift and the closing day

Channel wide as her tired berth

Just enough to let her slip away

Yeah, we cut so she can get away


We cut it a mile into the lake

Captain waves her on through

Bay freezes faster than she can cope

So we turn around and do it again, too

Sun climbs up, the edge comes off

Cold loosens its grip a bit

Deck watch’s been out there half a day

They’ve earned whatever warmth exists


Engine’s pushing, screws bite deep

Built for things that don’t forgive

Salty barely moves an inch

Doing her best just to live

Engineer laughs, says “We could swim”,
Push her out with our own two hands!”

I say, “If I see ice in my drink

It’ll be a month too soon, man”


Finally she’s in open water

Bow swings free, she’s on her way

We’re already tagged for the next call

This lake don’t give you time to stay

We’ll be out here till March shows mercy

Sixty days feels like a dare

I can feel my feet freezing solid

Just thinking about being there