When Happiness Comes... Poem by RIC BASTASA

at the other end of the world
when my morning is her night
she just wrote some notes, and
reminded me...

about another casualty,
the failing light, the fading sunset
the shrinking spirit,
the falling leaf, the broken twig,
the rotting trunk
the muddy ground...

i cannot sleep that night
this is always the negative thing at the other end of this border...

somehow i fly away from myself
to have a date with some fireflies
above the tree that has so many leaves
strong twigs, invulnerable roots
fungus free, hard barks,
strong, tall and proud

beside this is the river
lots of ripples and such a comforting sound of flowing water
it is leaving on a long journey
and i am left

there must be something positive about life
those stars speak a lot in their distant silence

the moon is so beautiful tonight
and the sky has freed all the dark clouds

somehow
i must speak of love and its seductions
its progeny of hope and courage

life has so much to offer
how can i contain these stars in a bowl?

the refrigerator is too small for
frozen happiness
the window is too tight for those that are coming
the door too narrow

the floor does not have that width
the ceiling that length

how can one compress happiness in
just one page?

is there joy in one syllable?