Elusive Happiness

the light shifts
           just beyond my reach
a shimmer 
           on the water’s edge

I cup my hands 
          to catch the spray
but it evaporates
           too soon, too quick

a whispered promise
           of the soft breeze
on the skin of my cheeks
           smells of rain
that never falls

I follow footprints 
            on the sand
soon erased 
           by the next wild wave

a  ripple rings
           from a nearby river
a sound so clear
           yet my mind slides 
elsewhere

I build my home
            in the hope
of steady ground 
            but the soil 
is  shifting sand

 I try to walk on
             the shining pavement
but the floor is moving
	      and slippery

I gather stones 
             of memory
to build a structure
             that will hold

but the mortar kisses
              the fine dust
before the final stone
             is firmly set

I try to catch a butterfly
           resting on the palm 
of my hand
            but it flits away 
In the thin  space

happiness remains
            a watercolour blurring out
a destination I keep chasing
             as the landscape changes shape
as I draw nearer to the spot

perhaps happiness 
           is not a bird to be caught
 and held tight in a cage
            but the act of catching itself

perhaps it lies not outside
             in the lurid space
but is found deep within oneself
	     and waits to be scanned

with patience
           with perseverance
                        till the inner light shines.

appreciationbirdbutterflyhappinesslifefree verse

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