The Sea Watchers
Emilia Osbourne
Where did lighthouses begin?
Before bulbs could break the night
When fire pits were built
Reflected off strong metals sending signals to sea
Helping ships that weren’t yet run by technology
guiding warriors after battles
They’re mysterious things lighthouses
Who knows what the first light was made from?
A reflection of starlight
or the moon echoing off a mirror
Were they what first manned these stations?
A light that stretches across the oceans plains
Perhaps vampires first began this
an easy way to catch sailors from a stormy night
Or could it have been pirates, the rulers of the sea
Is there something we don’t know?
Were they always used for what we thought?
Maybe the god of the seas didn’t live under the water
Were lighthouses shaped from Poseidon’s castle
A god’s power would explain the strength of light
How it manages to spread so far
Helping those lost in dunes of salt water
Over the years more towers of light have been built
Casting their strong glow through fog and mist
Used for mysterious stories of the seas
Who knows what happens on those isolated isles
Did keepers get lost to salted waves?
Did ghost ships ever kidnap any of them?
When is it that these houses peak
It is at the first breath of night?
The eye blinks to shed a golden light
casting a safe passage through the battleground
Through ravishing, hungry sea storms
Roaring like hundreds of hungry lions
Emilia Osborne is a third year student at the university of Gloucestershire currently doing a BA in Creative Writing, whilst working as an assistant teacher at Stagecoach performing arts. Since starting her degree, she has developed a passion for poetry, short stories and looking at modern feminist retellings from The Iliad and The Odyssey. Emilia hopes to go onto being a teacher whilst continuing her deep love for writing poetry, stories and plays.