The Lighthouse

Lighthouse lights:

Round and round,

Back and gone, a flicker,

Yet always there.

No ships….some ships,

Filled sea–empty.

Froth and waves: black to white,

Ebony to soft and dissipating cotton.

Great rocks, the marks of the sea, the guardians,

The gnashing teeth of

Poseidon.

Wrecks at the bottom, tombs

Of the brave,

Dark clouds, virgin clouds

Rain, sun, snow…..

Lighthouse lights:

Round and round

Back and gone, a flicker,

Constant as the environment,

But a mark like other marks,

There to supplant the things

That once made lands full of kings.