Keeping Watch
They have swapped the stars
for searchlights, swept
a curtain over the mouth of the bay.
Half the fleet is asleep,
casting their dreams deep
as they search for sweethearts, mothers,
home.
Tomorrow, these bleary bones
will slink out of safety, patrol
the pale waters, hold the Firth’s
hammering heart in their sea-worn hands.
Lynn Valentine
March 2018
