Orkney riddle

by Maggie Wallis

and what am I
matched against a gaping sky
buffeted grass and milling sea?

am I as fearless
as gulls, nesting on narrow ledges
braving beatings of berserker winds
and cuffs of mammoth waves?

am I as faithful
as five thousand returnings of mid-winter light
wending a way each year to this same stone
placed here for it to rest on?

and am I as constant as stone?