Poem:

Alone with Nature all around,

Where solitude must reign supreme,

Where inner peace and joy abound,

And happiness is not a dream,

I think of all the urban ills

That shortly I have left behind –

Here where beauty ever thrills,

With love so free and unconfined;

Where radiant trees and flowers speak

Of their own true, inherent worth

To let my spirit rise and peak

To heights of pure, untainted mirth.

The call of duty beckons me

To soon return to stress and strain

Tomorrow when I rather be

Hearing the songbirds’ sweet refrain.

The sights and smells of freedom dwell

Where Nature bares her naked charm,

And Time rings not the mournful bell

Tolling the dread of fear and harm;

But now let me imbibe the love

And soak my soul with its effect,

Far beyond and far above

Things that I must soon expect.