Lighthouse

Usually, sailors look to a lighthouse as a sign that land is near

but you look to it to make sure that you’re still afloat

that you can still lock eyes with the sweeping beam

of this lighthouse seventeen meters away

This tower is a pale sea green,

blending in to the watercolor sky so that even in daylight

you have a blank canvas

and you are able to pretend

that you’re being guided towards your home shore

Its hallowed hello brings a smile that you would so readily, so rapidly return

if that little girl hadn’t breathed all over your glasses

and traced her pretty name with a pink-painted finger

scumbling your drift

making you squint to tell if your head and your heart

are still above water

if the beam has not forgotten you

and left you in the dark