For those who are trapped in a day’s routine

A close-up of “The Bathing Pool” by Hubert Robert (1780)

For those who are trapped in a day’s routine,

When morning, noon, and night all feel the same:

Leave your chair — the times are not to blame —

And rest your eyes with a soft pastoral scene.

From daily demands your focus you must ween,

And fix it to the fun in a robin’s game

For loot underneath; with no thought on fame,

Feel the quick thrill when the slick worm is seen!

Or, if a stream you have for companion,

Listen with the heart what it has to say,

And greet what makes the bank their dominion;

For e’en gnats will stop to flatter your way,

And keep the spirit deaf to the world’s opinion,

So it may live in the heaven of today.