Vision

In the still of night, when moon

Has hid his face, and dark is long,

And fireflies are nowhere found

And so the shadow reigns unbound;

In the distance, blinking soft,

Beacons have been lit aloft

‘Mid the wilderness so vast

That many trav’lers never passed.

Many seasons of the sun

Mark the time since soldier wan

Pressed on, surviving day by day,

Through the lonely wastelands grey.

Thoughts for future home and rest

Came not oft’ to this man’s breast;

For survive, he must, lest soon

His body, weary, meet its doom.

And one day, after deserts bare,

The biting winds, and dragons’ lairs,

He came upon a mountain high,

Where life abundant dwelt, and thrived.

‘Ere long, the man who cheated fate

Began to build a city great,

That trav’lers weary, far from home, 

Would not so long be left alone.

So stands a refuge, far beyond

The wailing wastes of trials long;

For mere existence does not last

When vision learns from struggles past.