Bohemia Village Voice

From Bohemian Bouquet, published 1980 by The Bohemians.

Time

Time ripens the ova and triggers off birth,
It heightens the stature, and widens the girth.
Deepens the feelings, the courage, the hope,
By broadening the mind, the knowledge and scope.
It gives us love and takes it away,
Can bring joy and sadness in the space of a day.

Time seems like forever when troubles are rife,
Yet re-calls in a second thinking back on your life,
It speeds us through seasons, through calendar years,
But lingers through ordeals, and grieving, and tears.
It robs us of children by making them men,
Who then bring their off-spring to gladden again.

Time promises harvests, and mellows the earth,
It heals all our scars, and values our worth,
It brings to full beauty the rose and the maid,
Till we find to our sorrow age’s finger has laid,
It makes oaks and young men stand true and tall,
Then, gnarling and sapping, brings their downfall.

Time levels all mortals whatever their role
By decaying the body but enriching the soul,
Making fools of the proud, dignifying the meek,
Rewarding the patient, strengthening the weak.
It determines our life-span, then from where we came
Our bones turned to ashes, returns us again.

June Mann