The Pursuit of Joy

I need a dose of daily joy

Like tonic for my soul

Like Fevikwik for broken parts

that makes me feel so whole

No matter how bad it gets

Always keep handy a vice

A time-out from your daily grind

And that’s my best advice

It need not be a vice you know

Just something that is special

A sunset, a bath, a phone call

to buttress-harness-trestle

Happiness is hard

Too many parameters at play

Difficult to evoke at will

Impossible to make it stay

But good ol’ joy ain’t that way

It’s like instant noodles

Boil it stir it slurp it

Dopamine in oodles

Yes yes do fix your life

In big and lasting ways

But keep a minute for dear old joy

It’ll keep the blues at bay

What being a woman means

To be a woman

Is to see no difference

And treat myself as such

To hold myself

To the same expectations

Inside the house and outside

To make the first move

To punch above my weight

To stand tall even in a sea of giants

To see the extra layers

And teach myself not to cringe

Someone’s learning by watching me

To let the son know it’s ok to cry

Important to nurture

Necessary to ask

To think no ill

Especially of other women

Whose shoes I haven’t walked in

But to carry the weight

Atlas-like, for all women

I cannot shrug.

For my sisters and daughters

And certainly for my son

I will define who women are

Love is a verb

Love is this and that

So we are told

It will happen to you they say

And we are totally sold

So great is this thing

It will change you my friend

You will feel all the feels

For all of time till it ends

Happiness will be yours

When this manna does drop

You will harvest forever

This bountiful crop

So imagine my surprise

when this promised land

turned out to be a mirage

of an oasis in the sand

Love is not a thing

Love is not a thing

It’s not fate or fact

I daresay I now know

That love is an act

Love is an action

Made of many tiny beats

of care, of caresses

of attentions on repeat

it’s a smile when you’re tired

a kindness when you’re beat

it’s to hold an umbrella

amidst the blazing heat

it’s a decision that you make

and renew on every day

to be an anchor and a safeguard

a refuge in stormy bays

to take the bad with the good

the ugly with the smooth

somedays it’s a struggle

and that’s the simple truth

Nevertheless, you climb that hill

not only for the view

for the company, the conversations

and no one else will do

It may not be easy

and many-splendored every day

love is work

a resolution to stay

So, yes, it’s fabulous and fine

And all very superb

But one must remember

That love is a verb