This is the time to be slow
Lie low to the wall
Till the bitter weather passes,

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from yourself
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light

If you remain generous
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet again
On fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning

JOHN O’DONOHUE