Keeping watch

Keeping watch                                                                                                 
 
In the square a stone soldier
keeps watch upon a muted greenscape.
 
His sturdy vigilance has been there for ages
but now his shoulders seem to sag ever so slightly,
 
his once staunch knees yielding a millimeter or two;
the elements having softened
 
his facial resolve into perplexity
as he dimly views his evolving duty.
 
It’s forbearance now, a detached benevolence
while returning in nanoscopic degrees
 
to pure, featureless stone,
weathering whatever God has in store,
 
yet keeping watch, keeping watch
until he is pulled down entirely
 
off plinth and pedestal
to mingle freely with the dust below.
 
O child of God, the only service God requires of you
is vigilance and a singularity of purpose.