Tell Me The Time Poem by Wojja Fink

Tell me the time of this day before the dawn
When the birds are not yet singing
And the duvet is still warm,
The sun has not yet risen
The street is fast in sleep,
The time is always now
Before awakening from the deep

Tell me the time of this day before I rise
When thoughts have not yet stretched
And sleep still in my eyes
What time says the clock
By the window on the sill
The time is always now
When the cockerel’s lying still

Tell me the time before the skylark wakes and sings
When mist is in the mind
And memory in the wings
In what position are the hands
On the face of worldly clocks
The time is always now
Before the mind puts on its socks.

Tell me the time I must rise and go
There’s poetry yet to rhyme
And the metre wants to flow
There are chickens in the courtyard
There’s butter in the dish
The time is always now
Before you wish a wish

Now is the time the day at last has come
The blackbird is in tune
The robin’s just begun,
The pigeon is a cooing
The magpie’s shouting loud
The swallows sweeping low
In circles round a cloud.