Keeping One Eye Open (During the Night Watch)

The firefly dances in, shining from the shadows,
an old hunchback carrying a kind wisdom,
thoughtfully whispers, "It is okay to lose some,
okay to drop a plate here and there,
if only to remember that you cannot hold it together."

Progressing through the night,
watching eagerly for the daylight,
I would do well to remember his words,
"fight, friend, not because it depends on you,
but to devote yourself to what is right,
knowing that good is greater than your efforts,
even as you may fall in battle, the struggle presses on."