In Hopes Of A Happier Life Poem by Charles Wax

Ever since Andrew Stern’s wife
left him for guy living
next door
he couldn’t shake the blues
well, eleven years of marriage
down the drain
so one day Henry F
trying to be helpful said,
“When my pet goldfish
Mr. Ben Brilliant
passed away I was thrown
into such agony
as few men have ever known
cause the joy his swimming around
gave me can’t be put into words
at least not my words
so I’ll just say watching
Mr. Ben Brilliant gave me delight—
joy, joy’s the word
and such a golden orange he was
to dazzle the eye
for two days he floated
on the surface of the water
finally my dear wife said,
‘Enough. He’s garbage.’
I was taken aback
by her cruelty.
I said, ‘Mr. Ben Brilliant is getting
a proper burial.’
so at once I went to
the Yellow pages
and looked up Pet Cemeteries
closest one being in Huntington, Long Island
I dialed
then heard the toilet flush
such a sound the human mind
cannot imagine
so to make a long story short
I sunk into a catatonic coma
for three days
and three nights
then
the great Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
told me what to do in a dream
and I did it
straight-away racing
to the pet store
and bought a Mr. Ben Brilliant Jr.”
“The point, ” moaned Andrew Stern,
my wife ain’t a goldfish.”
“Uh, well,
yeah
I was getting to that
quoting the Rebbe now:
‘It is a great achievement to be happy! ’”