I tend the lamp no more these days
The oil is gone the wick stays gray
A calico slips through cracked glass panes
Green vines curl round her matted mane
She watches rain tap on the roof
No mouse escapes her patient proof
The lighthouse beam swept wide and far
She tracks the dust like falling star
Cracked glass holds the morning light
She sleeps through storm and sleeps through night
No tower bell to mark the hour
Just paws on stone and quiet power
The tomatoes rot on sagging vine
She does not beg she draws no line
My logbook rots in salt stained chest
She is the only guest at rest
Cracked glass holds the morning light
She sleeps through storm and sleeps through night
No tower bell to mark the hour
Just paws on stone and quiet power
Three decades I watched water break
Three decades for the light own sake
Now one small cat in broken glass
Outlasts the beam outlasts the mast
The townsfolk say the light is dead
They do not see the path she tread
Each paw print pressed in dusty loam
A beacon for a keeper home
No log entry marks her stay
No flare to guide her on her way
But when the fog rolls thick and low
She blinks slow the only glow
Cracked glass holds the morning light
She sleeps through storm and sleeps through night
No tower bell to mark the hour
Just paws on stone and quiet power
Cracked glass holds the morning light
She stays here I stay here
