Sabbath

Don’t kill time.
Sit with it a little;
wait for it to see you watching, 
slow its stride.
Let it tell its story;
it has been too long
since you had time
to listen.

“Once,” says time,
“I was at the beginning
of every tale; words
were built upon my spine.
When did time become
so busy that the stories
have no time to settle
into my bones?

“I am old as creation
and new every day.
God herself has hallowed me out,
but even I cannot hold
the evening and the morning
without pause to catch my breath,
and pray. Stay
a while,” says time.

Consider: you could walk 
away with the weight 
of a broken-hearted grandfather
clock on your hands,
or stay a while listening 
to time pass, 
counting the moments not as though wasted,
but lightly, like steps in a dance.