Answer:
I am so simple that I can only point. Yet I guide men all over the world.
What goes up when the rain comes down?
Halo of water, tongue of wood. Skin of stone, long I've stood. My fingers short reach to the sky. Inside my heart men live and die.
What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
My first is a body of water. My second is me. My third came before. My fourth before all three. My fifth sounds like my first. My sixth is in a lake. Put all six together to make an animal that will keep you awake.
What scientists might call your pooch.