The Gatekeeper
Fifteen fifty nine,
A changing of the guard
A black cape protects the lair,
Smartly dressed, glasses and neat hair,
Between digitus secundus and pollex,
His spear delivers its verdict,
Having studied and learned his lines,
To each, the correct name he assigns,
Bending back the hinges, on this day's madness
Restoring to the world, peace and calmness
A simple smile and then a hello,
To us your kindness you have bestowed,
Twenty-two fifty nine...
Explanation
Fifteen fifty nine,
A changing of the guard
His shift starts at 4pm, so there is the changing from the morning guy, B, to this guy at that time.
A black cape protects the lair,
Smartly dressed, glasses and neat hair,
He often wears this big black coat and is smartly dressed - well they all are, which I have (analogised isn't a word is it...!), but I've done that to imagine that the building is surrounded by this.
Between digitus secundus and pollex,
His spear delivers its verdict,
When he's not conceriging (I'm full of words tonight that aren't words!), he teaches and uses this time in which to mark his students papers. Actually, he might not be, but he often looks like he's marking papers in my head. "digitus secundus and pollex" are the Latin words for index finger and thumb - how you're supposed to hold a pen
Having studied and learned his lines,
To each, the correct name he assigns,
This has several meanings. The name he assigns, is that he always seems to remember everyones name who lives in the building. The learning his lines is that it's impressive he remembers everyone, but also I actually found out that he has done some acting work (that's what he teaches), so it's kind of saying he's learned his lines (remembered all our names), but also he's learned his lines for acting jobs. He doesn't like to talk about this though.
Bending back the hinges, on this day's madness
Restoring to the world, peace and calmness
A simple smile and then a hello,
To us your kindness you have bestowed,
Basically that when you open the front door to the building it's a nice warm, familiar face to greet you with after being in the hustle and bustle outside
Twenty-two fifty nine...
His shift finishes at 11pm
