Never mind long stretch of empty,
agony of uncertainty,
all who've gone too soon from her life,
floods of ever grey day.

Opportunity has arrived
right on time. This bird is ready
to fly out of a gilded cage
through the westward-facing

Wonder window to her new world
that has waited through many years
to receive her heart's bouyant song
and come back to life. Now!

Now knows the future is right here,
emerging from a clear blue sky
like lightning splitting a darkness
that has lingered too long—

Like shooting arrows, golden rays
of morning pierce her soul
to reveal a valley of peace,
a tenderness in time

And a time out of time. Now, when
there are beginnings at the end
of a winding gravel road, hope
rises like a lost song.

Present to promise, she stands strong
in circle of recreation,
to which we are born and belong,
dances free with the wind.