Sometimes I protect you, other times I fascinate. A shield as flimsy as cardboard. At a party or when you graduate, I sit with you, whether you're Abe Lincoln or Harrison Ford.

I am a beast of years long past and I have heads of three, I am no dog for I'm a cat, at least one part of me, The other two are far less seen Since other forms have shown on screen And with these clues, I beg of you, to guess what I may be.

I am begged for by the hunted and lost, Yet paid for dearly, at terrible cost. My doors mean mercy, my walls mean end, I shelter the broken I cannot mend. Called refuge, called cure, called quiet and clean, But screams learn the rhythm of what I mean. You enter for safety, you stay by decree. What frees you from danger confines you to me.

Born of winter and mothers’ dread, I pace the borders of the living and dead. Grandmothers warn me in candlelit rooms, Saints mark my shadow, the moon marks my wounds. I wear many names but one true skin, A prayer before sleep keeps my teeth from your kin.

My points are fixed, and yet you find me in constant motion, I wheel and spin in an endless dance, As awe inspiring as your oceans. A teller of time, a spinner of fates, I'll guide you home, or define your traits. By the time you see me, I am years ahead, I gift you gold after my soul has fled.