Guarding the Flame

I have my strong round tower
And I am sentinel
Standing there
Hooded, cloaked and booted
With my staff
Guarding the door.

The land is dark and
Mountainous and silence
Stretches all around - there is
Menace here, I feel it.
But I stand watchful
And awake -

The night watch prior to
Dawn limning the
Horizon - a welcome
Line of gold.  But the
Door behind me is solid
And the mortar in the

Wall sound and dry.  My
Keep is high and
Smooth-faced to foil
Climbers.  I stand here
In the dark, watchful
And awake

Sure that no-one can
Storm my keep so
Carefully builded
Over so long.  Dawn
Will come.  And when it does
I know I will have

Won through that
Long dark night of
Service as sentinel
To my own door, guarding
The sacred flame of being
Burning at my core -

That warmed me in the cold
That warned me of danger near
And kept burning bright
Even when its flame was low - through
All my ills and failures
It never once died.


I will stand here till
The sky and mountains fall
To ensure my 
High strong tower keeps safe
The sacred flame
Within its walls.

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