Love is a Fleeting Thing...

Happiness is a Trojan Horse

That invades your surly gates,

It only comes at the best of times

And at other times, it waits,

You know that it’s somehow out there

But you search for it in vain,

The few that seem to possess it

Know that it always ends in pain.

 

There’s ever the swing of the pendulum

There’s happy, and then there’s sad,

A swing will bring with it sorrow

And another swing brings glad,

For life is a roller coaster

Sometimes up and sometimes down,

And everyone who’s around you

Bears a smile, or wears a frown.

 

Money won’t buy you happiness

According to the rich,

But they’ve never had to miss a meal

Or sleep in a freezing ditch,

Happiness means so many things

To the people, just like you,

A job, a child that comes back home

Or a bill paid, when it’s due.

 

We’d like to think that our happiness

Is directed from above,

Euphoria, as a heart will burst

At the thought of a new found love,

But time and tide will take us to

What love that sours will bring,

Too often, many have heard it said

That love is a fleeting thing…

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[cynthiabuhainbaello]

Brilliant and excellent, exquisitely cutting and direct - love that strength. I have always enjoyed reading your work and when I read pieces like this one, I am simply awed by your life philosophies, how it is so much like my views of life. The lines have so much depth to ponder upon and so much truth in them to leave them unheeded.

[Saumya]

this was reallllllllllllllllllllly outstanding....!!!
very well done..!!
i loved the first stanza of this poem...!!!
once again, it made me happy :)

[Onku Ghosh]

just great!!! happiness is a fleeting emotion and it means so many diffferent things to different people.A Perfect peom ,p erfectly written .I love your style

[SyberRose]

You have such great rhythm David...your poetry always rhymes and flows nicely and I love the last line...love is a fleeting thing...your poems are always such a treat for everyone to read. Thank you for posting:)

Rose

[SteveB]

This is the first one of yours that I have read that was not a narrative and I must say you do just as well no matter what the genre. Wel balanced, solid rythmn, unforced rhyme. I realy enjoyed the image of happiness as a Trojan Horse. An interisting choice. Thank you for sharing this.

[quinfinn]

of course, this is another very well constructed and cleverly worded marvel, as always...but this is deeper and much more serious and profound than the fare which you usually share with your devoted and loving readers. absolutely stunning verse, David!

[Baby Ricochet]

Romantic love is a fleeting thing but your mom and your dog will love you no matter what.

[Marie]

But it's also a manty-splendoured thing...don't forget that...

[Tomahawk Joe]

well said and commendable flow of words

[Emerald Seas]

Hmm... Well, I don't really agree with the story line, but as always your poetry is written with finesse, David.
Happiness is a state of mind the individual controls. Love, although also a feeling, is (IMHO) a decision, a commitment to care for that person forever. For me, if you don't carry that decision, commitment to care throughout your life... It was never love at all. (Yeah, not the most common way of looking at it these days)

[Leigh]

I like the title very much and was drawn to read this poem for that alone. A very strong opening with the image of the big wooden horse invading a confused castle perhaps, that in the first stanza created an unbeatably strong image in my mind; its an interesting way to look at hapiness that it is an interuption to normal life, where we expect the mundane. The rich that you mention in 'the third' are easy targets I guess and we all assume they are almost obliged to be happy, but perhaps they are not, point well made.

This is quite thought provoking that love should be a fleeting thing otherwise it wouldnt be exciting and mysterious, I agree with that and can only compare it to the Christmas Day every day wouldnt be Christmas at all, thats what my Nan said anyway.