The Lighthouse Poem by Shankaran Kutty

Hundred feet above the ground
On a lonely rock, she burned bright
For many a lonely mile around
She was the only guiding light

Beneath her the vastness of the sea
Uncouth terror in her surge
The land stood up to her force and she
For that arrogance wanted to scourge

Waves crashed to death on the rocks below
But for not a moment did she flinch
Badly bruised, she took blow after blow
For centuries, never moved an inch

At the setting sun, in the fading light
When blinded by the spraying mist
Like a returning sun, she burns bright
Warning the ships from the schist

How long she stood, how old she was
She never had any clue
She is just a speck on the vast canvass
That is the ocean blue

Winter pelts her with snow and ice
Rains lashes her walls each monsoon
She watches the tides, ebb and rise
On command from the distant moon

The foamy seas seemed to dance
And break their heads on the jagged rocks
Without her presence no ship stood a chance
Or survive, the monstrous shocks

Many a life she had saved
From a gory end, on the rocks below
For the foolish captains who had braved
Never survived, to see the morrow

Without any complaints or any murmurs,
Forever, she burns so bright
In raging waves or floods or tremors
She happily serves through the night

With her battered walls and purple winks
She is the island’s pride
“For centuries more”, the seagull sings
“She will be the ocean’s guide “