Faintly We Trace It, Gold In The Mists

 faintly we trace it gold in the mists

and in the time of banishment your Kingdom

wishing we were nearer we plod on

sometimes in acute distress

when you whisper to us my child

this is no wilderness

for I am with Thee

weary of fighting what we cannot see

inscrutable mockeries

weary of so many things and unsure of our footing

we pilgrimage on and every dawn missing you

our true home till a soft breeze rouses us

a voice deep within says you are not alone

and we move on faint in the mists etched in a finer gold

we glimpse it through ever gathering clouds

and cry aloud dear God dear Saviour

help me now through the miry gates to a place

I remember a place in childhood with green moss carpeted

and circles of glimmering stones we imagined was home

where we ate honeysuckle flowers and brushed the rooms

with pine branches broken in the storm 

help me to go there again in the kindest winds flower lifted

far from the wings of ever besetting war

and let the honey of your presence flow

over these ancient wounds.

mary angela douglas `10 august 2020