Make Right the Time

MAKE RIGHT THE TIME

Hang tight the nightingale
Sings though her body’s frail
Songs where her feathers fail
To make right the time

Black veils and evening gowns
And ashes where we all fall down
For the sake and slice of holy ground
Make right the time

The wine’s all watered down with tears
So the kid’s sniff violets off of mirrors
And dance til visions reappear
To make right the time

The Earth’s on a string of beads
Just one prayer on the rosary
A single voice, a single: “Please,
Make right the time”

If only just a kind hello
Like shadow-paint of ice on snow
Softens both the friend and foe
To make right the time

Every moment has a face
Eyes of purpose, lips of place
To know and speak of only grace
And to make right the time

Sleep tight oh nightingale
It’s only just the winds that wail
Familiar tunes and foreign tales
To make right the time

They bring me dreams of jasmine tea
To sip through all indignity
Fragrant as to say for me:
Make right the time

The only gift that’s handed down
Is the gift to grow from muddy ground
So plant your feet and place the crown
And make right the time

For the gone and to the moved
Unresigned and unapproved
I offer only this to you:
Make right the time