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Sentries

by Julia Ecklar

on Minus Ten and Counting (1983), Wait for the Dawn (2010)

Legends have warned us in times gone by
Danger can fall on us from the sky
Fire and rain, and hailstone and flame
And gods without mercy and plagues without name

Science has warned us of what might be
Dangers that drift through infinity
Comets may call or meteors fall
And nobody knows what lives out there at all

Humans are hotheads who break the rules
Humans are reckless but not quite fools
Therefore we fly, keeping an eye
Turned to the depths of the borderless sky

Some of us people, the rest machines,
Sensors, computers, and readout screens
Always aware, with infinite care,
That we're the first warning if anything's there

We are the sentries who guard your sleep
Endless as hours in the watch we keep
Holding the sky under an eye
As watchful as ever in ages gone by

For nothing is certain, but death and change
Earth born, or sky born, as we may range
Always we fly, watching the sky
And nobody human need ever ask why