Joy

why can't there more cheerfulness

with laughter to spare

and smiles that don't break

hope on a string that somehow burst and float away

while snickering as it slowly lets go

if we, who are living are always in dread

fist full of anger

mouth full of rage

bitterness flailing like leaves from such early pain

then

where is the happiness

where is the joy

second chances are rare, third ones even more so

this world keeps spinning 

within and without

bald headed poachers gasping for that one last cigarette

pot bellied potatoes praying for no pokes

letters in the pen 

dying on the inside

hugs from the start

falling apart

without hope.

can't we remember 

when life was worth everything

and all was brand new

as long as there was me and you

when bodies were strong and

days never died in midstream

tell me you remember

tell me, if you dare

if only to appease this broken heart

if only to 

make me believe you still care...

Reviews

[. serah .]

-- the story of the speaker in this poem unravels at multiple levels... but for me... the way i relate to this incredibly moving piece of poetry... the essence lies in how an emotion once shared could not be sustained... -- i wondered too, for a really long time, if happiness was a fleeting emotion... meant to expire... meant to die... meant to have a very short shelf-life... -- then i encountered happiness... -- it was nothing like what i had imagined it to be... -- it silently smiled to itself... it was a kind of magical comfort in just being... and finding another who believed in letting happiness smile to itself... nourished it... but not with synthetic fertilisers... it was about genuineness and understanding... -- so, to me, it seems that the speaker of this poem encountered someone who simply did not believe in happiness... or believed in the kind of happiness that is fleeting and has a very short shelf life... -- such people, in my experience, are always just chasing sense gratification rather than aspiring for love... quite like that last cigarette image you articulated so powerfully and poignantly...

p.s. i wrote a few lines for you last week and added them to the following link...

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/riversofmirrors/1755613/

[Alisa Js]

Thank you, serah! I read it and am incredibly flattered....thank you for your kind words and thoughs...

Sending you smiles across the miles between us...

Alisa ;-)

[. serah .]

-- you're very welcome, lovely alisa... and thanks a million for the smiles... sending you many from here... :)