You've been here all day.
Watched the Sun rise, Pale and distant,
to frost the morning dew with gold.
You Watched parents stand quietly together
Hand in hand at the railing
Each with a bundle of fleece on their shoulder
A still dreaming child inside, bundled against the cold.
Through the day you've sat
Obscurity's kiss a cool whisper along your shoulders.
You smile at how cliche you are
Lonely in the tumultuous crowd.
Gangly teenagers pass you by,
their air of youthful disdain briefly broken
at the sight of the Canyon's gaping maw.
They marvel at the sun painted pallet of oranges and red.
You listen close, for the echo of sadness
or a whisper of dispair in their taunted dares
And when you find it you lay a gentle hand on the shoulder of the one who thought it,
and give comfort.
Not just an Angel today,
A Guardian.
Beneath a benevolent Sun's watchful eye
you've caught the little ones about to trip
You nudged the adventurous teens a little closer to safety,
Stopped a wife's hard words
Whispered a thoughtful gesture in a husband's ear
And though the canyon calls to you
To feel the quixotic rush of falling
Frantic winds rifling through your gossamer wings,
Wings that unfold to throw you back up into the sapphire sky
You resist.
As the Sun stumbles wearily west, and the
Canyon's fire glow fades to somber violet and grey,
You stand proud to know
That that today you Watched
and under your gaze all was well.
