Poem | The Druid

A druid in the wilderness he did proclaim
Himself the very keeper of the dawn
And be they high in number not in name
He stole the wayward sunbeams from the morn
Then he stowed them in a woodhouse one by one
As the days upon the calendars went by
Then fell the months upon the years til it was done
That he could raise the days beginnings from the sky
Then on parchment scribed a deal with jealous night
In return for fair dominion of its realms
I shall steer your blinkered boat toward the light
But then i shall be the bearer of its helms
Thus he bestowed the light of day to darkened sky
But kept the rest for his own fortitudes of flame
A stern and sorry vassal made he of the night
And that’s how Lucifer did come to be his name.

Peter Doolan is a poet based in London.