This piece is based on the text of the poem "Songs of Joy" by William Henry Davies, and was originally commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Eastern Region for the 2020 Eastern Region Conference in Rochester, New York for the Junior High Honor Choir conducted by Lynnel Joy Jenkins. Here's an excerpt of the poem:
Sing out, my soul, your songs of joy;
Sing as a happy bird will sing
Beneath a rainbow’s lovely arch
In early spring.
Think not of death…
Strive not for gold…
Train up your mind to feel content,
What matters then how low your store?
What we enjoy, and not possess,
Makes rich or poor.
- William Henry Davies (1871-1940)