The Far Receding Goal

I walked a child among the green boughs weeping

Heavy with the weight of fallen snow,

And as I walked the woods were calmly sleeping

I sang them forest songs from long ago.

The hemlocks magical at sunset dreaming,

The crackling princess pine beneath my feet,

It was a world of softness brightly gleaming,

A cloistered space for meditation's seat.

But youthful hearts have not the time for slowing

With all the earthly pleasures to explore,

Too early yet to seek the inner knowing

And the heritage of lives on earth before.

But now the years have flown and life is fleeing

And I have lost the comrade of my soul,

Errant is the compass of my being

As I look towards the far receding goal.

I walk alone, the snowflakes lightly falling

And empty are the coffers of my heart.

Will I hear again His voice so sweetly calling,

Will I see Her face once more ere I depart?