Bleeding sky, a changing of the guard Suddenly called to come in from the yard Mistle thrushes are wheeling overhead Hope the strike finds its way into the lead The fire beetle in the bark Carries aloft a spark For the coming dark I am silver and known to court the flash Still I cower beneath the tallest ash And if it were to split and fall May the fire and the weight consume us all And see the sum of my desire Twisting in the fire Or buried in the mire I have been here for ten thousand years Waiting for a storm to draw me out In the hurricanes’ minacious eye I sit and wait You are too old to hide Under the table like a shivering dog And yet I knew I’d find you here And in a moment of light I’m revealed As still as moss at the foot of the hill Watching the fleet as it battles the storm Ever set to call the vessels to the safety of the port Always leaving them to toil a minute more