From this fog-bound Earth of ours
We take refuge in you,
O rest of our souls,
Escaping like birds from a broken cage
To the keen, clean air, and the sunny uplands
Where you dwell, and with you
Find release from meanness of spirit,
From jealousy, slander, hypocrisy,
From selfish ambition,
From the insidious darkness that broods
And breeds in our wills and hides
The vision of good and the pathway of peace.
We take refuge in you:
Let us walk honestly in the daylight.
~John S. Hoyland (1830-94), England
