Happiness is
A buoyant smile
That laughs and lifts
You on for a mile –
 
A full, white moon
In the middle of the night
Whose beams fall like snow
Making dark meadows bright –
 
A horse that gallops
To say hello
Tossing its head
Prancing to and fro –
 
A little puzzle
Made of math
That takes an hour of
Thought without wrath –

A brilliant book –
A shaded pool –
A cat’s paw –
A pioneer school –
 
A winding trail
In a forest of pine,
With the smell of their leaves
And at night, a campfire –
 
A smooth round pebble
That obeisantly skips;
Two, three – four – five –
Under glass it dips –
 
To sit encased
In walls of stone
With a foot in the river
All alone –
 
Endless waves –
To sit at the shore –
To talk over dinner
And then some more –
 
A hawk’s cry –
A twirling dance –
To listen to music
As if in a trance –
 
The magic of the stage
In the lights, from the seats –
To stand on a mountain
With the clouds at your feet –

A house wrapped in fog –
A warm, blazing fire –
The family surrounded,
Singing as a choir –

The realization
God gives all my needs –
That my loved ones are with me
In word and in deed.