Long Nights - Poem by Karin Elizabeth Martin

It is so dark, so cold, so still,
I walk along, all else is still
I come here often, never in the day
to watch and keep
the people safe
I carry at my side some steel,
I use it as I creep along
Ever silent, never wrong
I light my way, of what I see
with my friend of steel, my friend and me.
I look upon, the sleeping forms,
I see some faces, I count their mourns.
They are but children, mostly small,
but adults and the world have taught them,
all wrong or nothing at all.
They look so innocent, so young and weak,
I do not stare, I only peak.
I see them safely thru each night,
speak no words, but pray for right
I stay all night, til morning comes
I place my beam, my work is done
The sun is rising, I go home to rest,
Sleep comes fast, but not the best.
I sometimes wonder, when I wake,
who watched over me with each breath I take