The Lighthouse Within! ! Poem by WIN VENTURA

I was not built for calm seas—
I was carved by storms,
anchored in solitude,
my soul bolted to the rocks
where others would drown.

Each night, the world forgets me.
But I do not forget the world.
My light does not flicker
for praise, nor for memory—
it is there because it must be.
Because someone, somewhere,
has lost their way.

I do not chase the ships.
I do not warn them with noise.
I shine—
unblinking, unwavering—
a silent sentinel wrapped in wind and salt.

Like the body, battered by time
but holding firm
because it knows its work isn't done.
Like the mind, bruised but not broken,
still searching for the next dawn.

I've been struck by lightning,
cracked by sorrow,
yet each wound
only deepened my glow.
I burn not for myself
but for those who need
to remember where the shore is.

A lighthouse never asks,
'Who will return? '
It simply shines.

And I—
in this fragile skin,
in this aging frame—
am the same.
I am not waiting to be saved.
I am the saving.

✍🏽By: - WIN VENTURA