Lighthouse
Sentry for centuries, faithfully you stand,
Alert, guiding ships and vessels,
A beacon of safety, flashing comfort,
Signaling relief from the tempests
Raised by an angry Poseidon
Shaking fleas from his back.
Like a seahawk perched,
Clinging to the headland stone,
As stone, solid, weathered, but remaining,
With strength equaled only by the waves,
Crashing waves, against the stone,
Against your shore, the harbour that you keep.
The hands that laid you, lay below.
The lives that passed you, have long since passed.
Only you remain, stained and salted, a sentinel,
A reminder of all the tides that came and went.
A witness to the storms and turmoil,
Of the tranquil interludes when the sea and sky rest.
Vigilant always, through fog and sleet,
Darkness or midday sun, you stand,
Stretched to the heavens, as though in prayer
For the seafaring mortals that pass your way,
Offering a radiant blessing of safe passage
Through shoals hell-bent on drowning souls.
As long as your light does flash, a pulse steady and true,
Hope remains for all who take to sea
Braving the rolling, cresting, waves that crash,
Smashing deck and mast, intemperate rage,
Tempered by the blinking ray of hope, of guidance,
Leading the way to safe harbour, the way to hearth and home.
May your light never dim or diminish
Or lost we all shall be.