The Lighthouse

By Pamela Bendio

On a clear and sunlit day
a captain’s eyes will follow
the coastline and look for
the friendly tower standing
ever firm and fast on the sea’s edge,
and know from its distinctive markings
exactly where he is…
and with charts in hand
on peaceful seas…
find that route that keeps him safe
from rugged rock and hidden shoals…
guiding his ship safely into the harbor
of his purposed destination.

But, some days,
become as black as night…
and then when his ship
is tossed about on wind-swept seas,
and he struggles to remain upright
on the shifting deck beneath his feet,
in his rain-drenched clothes,
under gloomy and cloud-filled skies
split by lightning flashes and
punctuated by the thundering sounds which
resonate alarmingly in his benumbed bones…
that same promising coastline…
now looming dangerously close…
becomes his deadly enemy.

In this most precarious
and perilous moment,
the captains eye’s search
for the commanding rhythmic light…
emanating from that watchful tower…
that pierces the darkness
in the consistency of its individual characteristic
with its light burning inside,
a safeguarded light that is
amplified, reflected, and
released in pulses…
giving both steady guidance
and a warning to all who come
within its influential radius…

“Choose now to change
your course, and live!”