These Joys are Mine

"The joy of a rose with its sweet perfume
On a lazy summer day.

The blue of the sky as the dawn steals through
To welcome a bright new day.

A little child with a laughing heart...
A hope and a peace supreme.

A hilltop fair with its whispering wind
And a valley nestled between.

A friendly smile and a handclasp warm
A gladness to call my own.

A fireside warm and a happy thought
Whenever I'm alone.

A quiet joy that can fill my mind
Each night at the long day's end.

A thrill complete and a rich content
Because I have been a friend.

These joys are mine as I walk life's road
Wherever the journey might lead.

These are the hope and the faith I know,
All that my heart can need.

The richest treasures, the brightest dreams
To last throughout all time.

My heart holds a smile and my soul is content.
I'm rich, for these joys are mine! "

~Garnett Ann Schultz

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Summer Landscape" by Pierre -Auguste Renoir