Happiness
P. K. Panda
Who do you wait for
to bring you the cart loaded of happiness?
none is there and none is at far distance seen
to tire for you and bleed
to carry you it
unbroken and in plenty
it's not in the treasure trove
that buries inside the mountain's deep cave
or lies under the ocean's mighty wave
it's not the richness in another's pocket
that you always envy for
or it's in the wealth you've kept in store
that often swells from its very core
even you won't get it from your father's hand
who watches you high above the Karmic land
rather it's the only psychic trend
where your mind alone holds the magic wand
so start seeing things through the eyes of your soul
and feel how it does in every paltry detail extol
search it rather in petty little things
there like the scent to a flower it clings
and flickers in them like a minuscule spark
that passes away so soon and leaves no mark
gather ye rose buds while ye may
ere the winter's cold hands on them lay
with her every laugh
while your beloved lilts
or with his every talk
while your child lisps
gather ye there while ye may
ah! there does it lie and there it does so thinly sway;
also gather it from the brook that in the deepest part lilts
while the moon listens to it for hours before it westward tilts
or gather it from every glint of the morning sun
that spreads it's golden hues on the dew-strewn lawn
keep aside all your anger and ego, and alone you rise
and see how happiness in you like the metre of taxi does rise.
Prafulla K. Panda (MA, M. Phil, Ph. D) is an Indian poet who hails from Odisha, India. A Lecturer by profession and a poet by passion, he has been ardently writing about love and human relation; about life and death; about nature and societal issues. He has published his poems in various national and international anthologies, magazines and online platform, too. Some of his poems have been highly acclaimed and adjudged as the award winning pieces. He has edited an inter-continental anthology of poems, Beyond the Horizon.
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