Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Uplift to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
When the storms of doubt are roaring, and the night is black as coal,
There is a lighthouse in me, at the harbour of my soul.
It has stood through every tempest, and it has never fallen down,
For its foundation is the hope I've buried deep beneath the ground.
Its lamp is made of memories of the times I did not quit,
And of all the little victories that I have gathered bit by bit.
It sends its beam across the waves to the ships of my lost days,
And it guides me safely homeward through the fog and through the haze.
I do not need a brighter star, nor a louder, bolder sign,
For the light that I've been searching for was always, always mine.
So when your world is stormy, look inside, and be assured,
That a beacon burns within you that will bring you home, restored.
Poet of Uplift · Hear it on the channel ↗
Commentary
The lighthouse here is not on a coast but inside the self. The poem says that when doubt storms in, a steady light is already there to guide us home.
“When the storms of doubt are roaring, and the night is black as coal,” there is “a lighthouse in me, at the harbour of my soul.” It “has stood through every tempest,” for “its foundation is the hope I’ve buried deep beneath the ground.” Its lamp is “made of memories of the times I did not quit” and “all the little victories.”
It “sends its beam across the waves to the ships of my lost days” and “guides me safely homeward through the fog.” The speaker does not need “a brighter star,” for “the light that I’ve been searching for was always, always mine.” The poem ends by assuring the reader that “a beacon burns within you.”