For days gone by when I would dart

With breathless speed and date-filled chart,

An eager dash from headlong start.

Champ at the bit, I could not wait

To charge full-force from starting gate,

To get there fast and not be late,

A madcap, draining, futile state.

There was no time to chase a dream,

Meander by a bubbling stream,

To dance beneath a stray moon-gleam,

Or gaze at clouds of puffy cream.

For I was too naive to know

The gentle charm of moving slow,

Of stretching out a minute’s flow

To marvel at a blossom’s glow.

I had no clue in times gone by,

Peace can be found in starlit sky,

In leaf-decked branches spearing high,

Or in a soaring eagle’s cry.

A loving glance from him to me,

Responding to a good friend’s plea,

A young child’s laughing revelry,

Each one can bring serenity.

My life has now been redefined,

I’ve ceased that never-ending grind

To nurture an uncluttered mind,

And found my heart not far behind.

Tranquility, for me, it seems,

Could not be gained by fortune’s schemes,

Instead it drifts in gracious streams

From loved-ones’ smiles and heaven’s beams.