Righteous Action

They changed the names on every door They swore the break was clean Still the old fire crossed the rain Under cloth cut new and thin Wrong hands carried older light Through rust, through spite, through doubt What they bent did not bend far The same breath kept getting out Righteous action Call it what you like Wrong mouths, wrong hands Still the spark survives The branch may split The thread stay fast The vow be bruised, not gone What's right keeps standing through the break And carries itself on Some wore anger like a coat Some turned mercy to a knife Some made idols of the wound Some spent faith like borrowed time Still in rooms gone cold for years Still in tongues gone dry with blame The same coal answered to the air The same heat returned its name Not because we kept it clean Not because we stayed as one Only that it would not die When the easier things were done Bent and stained and handled wrong Still it faced the light Like a coal under the ash Refusing every night Righteous action Call it what you like Wrong mouths, wrong hands Still the spark survives The names fall off The shape stays warm The vow be bruised, not gone What's right keeps standing through the break And carries itself on