PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

In a world that’s rife with cruelty, hatred and prejudice

may we spread a little joy and love and happiness instead…

because a world that’s rife with cruelty, hatred and prejudice..

needs all the joy and love and happiness we can spread.

I have a confession…which to this poem I shall now bring…

when I think that no one’s listening or watching…I have a tendency to sing.

When I wake up, having a playlist which contains my favorite songs,

I go into the room where I write my poems, turn it on, and sing along.

In my car with the radio blasting…sometimes I fall into a trance

I forget that people might might be watching…as I sing…and often I dance.

When I’m in the shower…or, for that matter, in the rain under an umbrella… 

with no musical accompaniment…I sing acapella.

I never had dreams to be a famous singer…

with all the fame and fortune that would bring

all I know is there are times…when I just have to sing.

I know, for me, there is no better way for my day to start

than with a song upon my lips and music in my heart.

I use to wonder since this clandestine signing is my thing…

if I sing because it makes me happy…

or 

am I happy…and that is why I sing…

Looking back over the years however 

this is the conclusion I have reached…

It isn’t one or the other…

it’s a little bit of each.

May we be blessed to wake up every morning

Smile look out the window and say

I wonder what new and exciting adventure 

is waiting for me today

May we be blessed to understand happiness need not be elusive….

It need not be an ever-exhausting hunt for us….

How…

oftentimes…

if we open our eyes…

It’s right in front of us.

In our constant search for happiness that takes place in our life every day

we tend to look for moments that take our breath away.

But if we only find our happiness in those moments that take our breath away…

we miss all those little moments of happiness that surround us every day.

Like how the the clouds kept changing color and shape 

the other morning on our walk.

Like how we smiled, we cried and we clapped

as we listened to Jane Goodall talk.

Like the little girl in the bookstore who smiled and said,

“Can you guess how old I am?” while looking directly in my eyes…

And how I guessed that she was 7…and it only took me 2 tries.

Like watching people on a hot and humid day come into the store

eating ice cream as they perused the books on every shelf…

and when my shift was over…buying two scoops for myself!

Like getting texts from my son, my daughter and my granddaughter

meant to touch my heart and to amuse….

Like seeing the excitement on Deborah’s face as she tried on her new shoes.

Like how two rabbits, who usually run away when they see me in the morning….

this morning stopped to say hello…

Like how every day, as if my magic, I learn something I didn’t know.

These are just a few simple examples of how before each day is through… 

you don’t have to be searching for happiness….

sometimes happiness finds you.

There is nothing wrong with searching searching for happiness

in those magic moments that take our breath away….

as long as we remember to enjoy those little moments of happiness

we breathe in every day.

This is a story about happiness that began 60 years ago.

Keep in mind that even a story of happiness has it’s share of sadness, tears and woe.

She was working at a diner…when he saw her and was swept away.

He kept returning to that diner each and every day.

Yes, he continued eating at that diner even though the food was not that great

until he gathered up enough nerve to ask her for a date.

And from that chance meeting in the diner…once he overcame his fears

this couple never parted…and were married 60 years.

Their friends smile when they say with conviction and with pride.

in all the time they’ve known them…they are happiness personified.

They’ve watched them through their joyous times…with friends and family

when love, joy, laughter and smiles appear so easily

They’ve watched when tragedy struck…how their love always had the knack

amidst their tears and sorrow…to gently ease their smiles back.

For 60 years through their ups and downs from that first day they both knew

their love for one another and their faith in god would help to see them through.

It’s a love story for the ages…but as we know life’s not always fair

and 60 years together is all they’d get to share.

For he is now he’s in heaven…they’re finally spending time apart…

and she is left with wonderful memories…and a whole within her heart.

So why is this a story about happiness…you ask…when it’s ending is so sad… 

because it’s about all the joy, happiness and love for 60 years they had…

For 60 years they shared a love that no sorrow could destroy

because this ending would not be so sad…If their life had not been filled with so much joy.

I imagine that is both the gift and the curse of love…of finding someone you adore…

that even after 60 years of happiness…you still yearn for one day more.

Before we left on our summer trip it was important for Deborah and me

to get together and spend some time with our friends and family.

And…as the love, the laughter, and the conversations overflowed with ease

in every case I was struck by one of life’s dichotomies:

Have you ever had those moments of joy experienced with family and friends…

when life, in that moment, seems so perfect you don’t want it to end?

Conversely, have you ever had moments of sorrow experienced with family and friends 

when life, in that moment, seems so sad and painful you can’t wait for it to end?

This is the dichotomy of time…how it is impossible to master…

how we wish some moments would linger longer…

while others would fly by a whole lot faster.

One moment we’re looking at our young face in the mirror with a smile

And the next we’re looking at some old person with a groan.

One minute our children are young and little 

and the next they’re fully grown.

It makes you realize how each moment is precious…

and…whether hoping that moment will linger 

or that it will quickly end…

how each moment is made more precious when spent with family and friends.

Which is why as long as the mastery of time remains one of life’s great mysteries…

I hope you’ll always find me surrounded by family and friends

searching for any joy I can

in the midst of her dichotomies.

It’s funny as a child there there were so many things I knew nothing about 

and it filled my little heart with woe…

because of all the things I wanted to learn…

all the things I did not know

But now that I am older…

I am no longer filled with woe

about the things I never learned 

about all the things I do not know.

In fact I’m happy…

the older and older I grow

to be excited and surprised

by all the things I do not know.