The rock that stood against the night In silhouette above the sea, This great embodied permanence, Its inorganic innocence A lamp that led the little sister Up the winding hill. The stave they placed within her hands She held aloft above the stones And fell as it was meant to be. This final kakistocracy Could smile as in the last ascent She stumbled on the hill. She rose again to reach the top, To face the famous headland wind, And stemmed the tears behind her eyes. The silent ever-busy skies Were bringing in the cirrus clouds From all eternity. And here the citadel was built; Its walls the little sister's cloak; Its light the light that lives within. The memory of any sin Was taken on the smallest cloud And never seen again.