I trim the wick at midnight hour
The beam cuts through the ocean's power
No ships will sail this hallowed night
The old ways wake in cold twilight
[Pre-
The horn blows low from headland stone
The ancestors walk paths I've known
Their footsteps salt the windy grass
I watch the embers fade and pass
The bonfire dies to gray ash crown
The lantern turns the tide around
Salt and ash on windowsill
The veil grows thin against my will
My father kept this vigil too
Before the fog horn pierced the blue
He taught me how to read the signs
In smoke that curls through twisted pines
[Pre-
The horn blows low from headland stone
The ancestors walk paths I've known
Their footsteps salt the windy grass
I watch the embers fade and pass
The bonfire dies to gray ash crown
The lantern turns the tide around
Salt and ash on windowsill
The veil grows thin against my will
The villagers brought oak and rowan
To burn before the winter's gloaming
They left an offering at my door
A cake of oats and berries more
The bonfire dies to gray ash crown
The lantern turns the tide around
Salt and ash on windowsill
The veil grows thin against my will
The seal-folk shed their skins tonight
And dance beneath the pale moonlight
I see them through the Fresnel glass
A spectral reel on phantom grass
The bonfire dies to gray ash crown
The lantern turns the tide around
Salt and ash on windowsill
The veil grows thin against my will
These hands have turned the lens for years
Counting seasons, counting fears
Now arthritis stiffens every joint
But still I tend the sacred point
The bonfire dies to gray ash crown
The lantern turns the tide around
Salt and ash on windowsill
The veil grows thin against my will
Salt and ash, the keeper's creed
I guard the light, I guard the need
Salt and ash remain when flame is done
The keeper's watch is never done
