subtext

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Life’s Story

Perhaps, happiness is an aggregate;

moments of bliss embedded in moments

like bits of chocolate in fresh baked cookies,

and all we lack is a cold glass of milk.

Perhaps, the promise religion provides

is but venal desire disguised as hope;

the apple is always just out of reach,

it’s dewy flesh untouched by morning light.

Our jumbled happenstance is rewoven

each day into a more palatable

tale, where the hero becomes a fool

to the children gathered around him

on the days he works in the garden

pruning bits of his life as if roses.

(February 16, 2024)