Outside, the Busy Hum

        'Yes, Lord, I've come. Too long hast Thou
        been waiting for me here alone,
        yearning to make my heart Thine own,
        whilst I - well, I am with Thee now...

        Here dwellest Thou unseen, by stealth,
        to hear our prayers and hush our sighs,
        and warm our hearts and dry our eyes,
        and lend the pining spirit health.

        Without:  the stir, the busy hum,
        the empty laugh, the heavy sigh,
        Thy creatures passing heedless by,
        like me too oft - but now I've come.

        I come and go, while through the night
        and through the day Thou mak'st Thou home
        beneath that little marble dome,
        which hides e'en Thy Disguise from sight...

        I go and come. Now bid me go
        with fuller grace and firmer will,
        though fain I'd linger near Thee still -
        but work must be our lot below.

        Thou, Lord, wilt smile upon my track
        throughout the busy hours, I know;
        Then bless me, Father, ere I go -
        Alas! I go - oh! draw me back.'

        (The Living Pyx of Jesus by A Religious, Pelligrini, 1941, pp. 503-504)