I Have Found Such Joy

I Have Found Such Joy – Grace Noll Crowell

I have found such joy in simple things;

A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread

A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,

The shelter of a roof above my head,

And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,

Where yellow sunlight glimmers through a door.

I have found such joy in things that fill

My quiet days: a curtain’s blowing grace,

A potted plant upon my window sill,

A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;

A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,

And books I long have loved beside me there.

Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might

Tell every woman who goes seeking far

For some elusive, feverish delight,

That very close to home the great joys are:

The elemental things–old as the race,

Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

My friend sent me a copy of this poem last year and it has been on my fridge ever since. It is particularly important to me at the moment as I find myself daily longing for sunshine, a full night sleep and a decision on our future. The poem brings me back to the 'here and now' and helps me refocus and enjoy the simple life of a home maker.

I hope you find joy in it too.