These tender, vulnerable bodies rest

So still at midnight chime and lighthouse flash;

Below the window, roiling whitecaps crest

And fill the marsh with turmoil. Thundrous crash

Belies the vision here before my eyes,

As sleeping babes, ignorant of the storm,

Lie statue-still. Outside, black, cloud-filled skies

Smother a pale moon. A ship sounds forlorn,

Its lonely call disturbing nighttime still,

But shan’t awaken those whose night is bless’t

With peaceful dreams. A father’s heart is filled

With joy at this pure sight of evening’s best

Moment. I lie awake each night, it seems,

And revel in the light of their sweet dreams.