Counting the Hours

From cots they rise in depths of sleepy yawns to sing Matins
then return to snatch an hour ere the sun and Lauds begins.
No time to snatch a bite of food; just water before Prime
then a simple morning meal as the sun begins to shine.
The morning almost over and the next mass sung in verse
to sing the praises of the third – the hour known as Tierce
At noon the sixth hour mass is called, the Latin calls it Sext
then toil in the Scriptorium ‘til bells call for the next.
At Three o’clock, the ninth hour, their faces white as bone
they gather in the chapel there to sing the hour of None
As the sun begins to fall, the Vespers bell is calling;
finally the Compline prayer as tired eyes are falling
For through devotion comes the faith that God is up there still
and watches over man and beast for good or for their ill.