Across the River

There's a place I'm longing to go Just across the river where finches fly. It's a paradisiacal spot I alone know Where the real me is ever standing by. I've held it close for years and to spare. It has consumed most every thought. There's a willow-arched thicket there Just across the river that time forgot. The ground is gentle, soft, and sweet. It seems to know this place is mine, And it yields lovingly beneath my feet, Across the river where life is sublime. Sky-piercing pines encircle my haunt, Stately sentinels on ceaseless duty. Here is an end to need and want. Across the river in an abode of beauty. I pine for the day that I can repose there Midst nature's host of God-made things. I'll be in a sanctuary without a care Across the river with heavenly wings.