Raising Keep

Stone to stone Beam to beam The ground held still Under weight and steam Wall outside Watch below Something higher Learned to show We hauled the rock from the split hill’s mouth We dragged the timber from the wet black south We burned the lime and we mixed the clay We set the posts where the night gave way Hands on rope Backs in rain Iron bent and lifted again No high room yet No guarded store Only the weight And the need for more Raise it straight Raise it slow Weather below And hunger below Raise it where The field can see What we keep Will keep what we need Raising keep Raising keep Stone above the weather Raising keep Raising keep Held by hands together Name the stair Mark the store Set the watch above the door What is lifted Learns to stand What is guarded Names the land Now there is outside the wall And outside the tower Now there is grain under lock And the measure of flour Now there is lower And upper And room above room A dry place for records A lit place for bloom Someone below keeps the water from rising Someone outside keeps the dark from deciding Someone unseen In the stair and the smoke Holds up the height That the morning invokes Lift makes a centre Centre makes rule A store makes a winter Less absolute A stair makes a difference A lock makes a claim A guarded place Begins to have a name Raising keep Raising keep Stone above the weather Raising keep Raising keep Held by hands together Name the stair Mark the store Set the watch above the door What is lifted Learns to stand What is guarded Names the land Below the floor The carrying Outside the gate The watching Under the stair The washing Behind the wall The mending No room rises By rising alone No stone speaks Without weight beneath stone No lamp burns high Without hands out of sight No house begins Without work in the night So the centre gathers So the ledgers begin So the threshold divides What is out, what is in So the child sleeps higher Than the flood line climbs So the bell learns hours And the wall learns time Not mercy alone Not power alone But burden arranged Into timber and stone A place can protect And a place can command A roof can shelter And shadow the hand Raising keep Raising keep Stone above the weather Raising keep Raising keep Held by hands together Name the stair Mark the store Set the watch above the door What is lifted Learns to stand What is guarded Names the land The field has a centre The wall has an eye The store has a measure The stair has a why The lower holds labour The upper holds light The House is not here yet But it has learned height Someone still stands outside the wall