Long ago the day started beautiful on the lake with that break of dawn,
When my brothers Frank, and Eddie and myself started fishing that day
All we could talk about was the big fish we might catch,
However, we just never expected to face death that day in that big lake.
We thought we had quite a boat some would call “Jon” that made us proud,
Thinking back then that at a full twelve foot, our boat was nice and sleek as a pearl that day,
Nevertheless, we fished for a while and while I don’t recall catching much, I do recall that suddenly the day clouded, and the wind started,
And we just never expected to face death that day in that big lake.
We knew we needed to get to shore, and just like that, it started getting dark,
We could now see white caps, with the wind getting stronger and whipping us about, the situation now was getting stark,
Looking on shore, we saw a bolt of lightning throw sparks,
We just never expected to face death that day on that big lake.
With water coming in the boat now, Frank yelled to tie the tackle gear to the anchor,
I am sure that we all silently realized that the boat would soon be flooded; and the closest landing was still far away,
We all quietly prayed,
For we just never expected to face death that day on that big lake.
Thinking back now it all seems like a blur, the boat got submerged,
We all dove in the water, and started swimming to shore,
I coughed and spit out water, saw I was still 50 yards out,
Still I kept trying to keep my head above water,
Then saw my brothers from shore, cheering me on.
Soon I was under water, drowning like in slow motion,
But suddenly my brother Eddie had swam out and saved me that day,
He got me close, with Frank helping us both to shore.
Lying on the rocks, realizing what had just happened,
We surely never expected to face death that day on Calaveras Lake
Later our Dad reminded us that Calaveras is the Spanish word for “skull bones”.
Bob Collazo, 10/25/08.
