Rooted and Grounded

 When storms arise
And dark'ning skies 
  About me threat'ning lower,
To thee, O Lord, I raise mine eyes;
To thee my tortured spirit flies
   For solace in that hour.

The mighty arm
Will let no harm
    Come near me nor befall me;

Thy voice shall quiet my alarm,
When life's great battle waxeth warm--
    No foeman shall apall me.

Upon thy breast
Secure I rest,
    From sorrow and vexation;
No more my sinful cares oppressed,
But in thy presence ever blest,
   O God of my salvation
   
Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began to write stories and verse when still a child; he was president of his high school’s literary society. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper.