The Lost Lighthouse Poem by Vikas Sharma

Over the cliff, beside the sea,
Stood a ruined tower amidst debris,
While on the sandy beach, I walked,
The tower in ruins on the cliff, I watched,

Strange emotions, the ruined tower, did arouse,
For in my childhood days it was a lighthouse
In awe, I use to watch it at nights,
Wondering, for whom, it was flashing lights,

In the day time it looked imposing,
On the cliff, like a custodian posing,
For months I was afraid to go near,
Somehow the structure instilled fear,

To go closer one day I dared,
All my fears were soon bared,
Over the cliff, the lighthouse stood tall,
Encircled by grass, I recall,

For hours I use to play near it,
And found no reason to fear it,
Through those years I wondered every night,
For whom the lighthouse flashes light,

Later knowledge answered my then curiosity,
But today, there is another reason for my anxiety,
Was the lighthouse no more needed by mariners?
Or was it destroyed by some invaders,

Did it of own fall, cause of its advancing age,
Or was it derelict and damaged because of non-usage,
I know not, why the lighthouse depleted,
Why no more flashes of light it emitted?

To this day, I think and wonder,
Who guides the lone and lost mariner?
I hear, Radars and GPS guide the modern vessels,
Real Time Data, in a computer now nestles,

Yet for the lost and lone mariner, I worry,
Now that ‘the lighthouse' is a heap of debris,
Lighthouses reassured us everywhere,
Don't Worry………. I am here!

-Daksh-