week 654 ~ here is a peaceful moment

here is a peaceful moment
so close your eyes and dream on
don’t fret for where the days went
here is a peaceful moment
savoring it’s time well spent
from such is happiness drawn
here is a peaceful moment
so close your eyes and dream on

week 519 ~ a talent for happiness

a talent for happiness
takes some time to develop
first learn to disregard stress
a talent for happiness
ignores the engulfing mess
of life smiles keeps its chin up
a talent for happiness
takes some time to develop

week 509 ~ happiness has put itself in mothballs

happiness has put itself in mothballs
packed itself away pulled the covers up
over its head ignoring anxious calls
to reemerge shut down stuck in lockup
it sees no future place where it could bloom
dust dry fire ravaged cries of children
who are too sad to believe there’s still room
for it as the future unfolds not when
not if not how every day it searches
hoping to find a place to plant a smile
sorrow flows on unsteady it lurches
ahead invisible forgotten while
devious minds plot a future no one
wants life by money and power undone

week 466 ~ when the world sounds like music

when the world sounds like music
take a deep breath then join in
no matter what song you pick

you’re alone stuck in traffic
driving home from where you’ve been
when the world sounds like music

savor the moment things click
it’s one time you’ll always win
no matter what song you pick

happiness has no yardstick
no set place it should begin
when the world sounds like music

it passes you must be quick
to actuate your break-in
no matter what song you pick

you know you’ll land in the thick
of a landscape wide open
when the world sounds like music
no matter what song you pick

week 391 ~ happiness hovers near the horizon

happiness hovers near the horizon
drawing us onward it floats a languid
lover unconscious of navigation
blissfully unaware day has landed
blind to misspent youth or ships or sudden
squalls upsetting equilibrium no
it’s laughing at a whispered joke open
to ebb and flow while savoring the slow
sly mirth of its wingman optimism
no fear as sharks circle it knows it’s the
object of all desire we await
the inevitable cataclysm
squinting ahead where we can almost see
the moment our pursuit arrives too late

week 335 ~ there is just something about

there is just something about
a sunny day warm dreamy
half close your eyes grin and shout
look around there you’ll see me

 a sunny day warm dreamy
a baby’s smile bursts open
look around there you’ll see me
chortle flap your arms now when

 a baby’s smile bursts open
the height of pure happiness
chortle flap your arms now when
all you imagine is bliss

the height of pure happiness
when turmoil’s over through
all you imagine is bliss
a day with nothing to do

when turmoil’s over through
there is just something about
a day with nothing to do
half close your eyes grin and shout

week 313 ~ all the evidence points to yes

all the evidence points to yes
dreams hung outside a closed window
hover helium balloons show
the way ahead don’t second-guess
their destination happiness
is difficult to recognize
but take the leap you’ll realize
you’re there this time your heart has known
right from the start truth brightly shone
the moment you looked in his eyes

week 260 ~ I know that Mona Lisa smile

I know that Mona Lisa smile
one corner up the other still
unsure deciding if it will
let joy sing out or wait awhile
savor the moment to beguile
time but when the corners begin
to slide apart and discipline
succumbs to delight well you’ll see
it’s less mysterious merely
DaVinci’s prelude to a grin

week 257 ~ something’s cracked the toxins come oozing out

something’s cracked the toxins come oozing out
I wonder if it’s like an oil change
where all the sludgy brain matter and strange
ideas will drain into a pit (I doubt
it) and I’ll be refilled with a sunny
disposition no longer the kind of
person who would doubt that happiness love
and contentment were created for me
I watch the full moon its light leaking fast
be eclipsed then reborn in a red glow
from nearly nothing and I want to know
when is my fill-up coming and if past
sins have been atoned for will I now dream
of life more beautiful than it would seem

originally written in Rio 2007, revised

week 240 ~ the time before everything that has been

the time before everything that has been
wrapped in the scent of phlox and sound of rain
on the pavement of my heart before pain
dug ruts for rivulets of tears begin
stretched out on the grass watching ants scurry
by or jumping off the shed roof into
the waiting branches of the big spruce who
could eat their ice cream cone slowest not me
but I tried back in those lost summer days
of sunshine memories melting kool-aid
popsicles when I was never afraid
when happiness blossomed so many ways
easily beautifully without regret
before the time of so much to forget