Day 83: Reasons to Be Happy

for times we laughed at the same time and together,
for food shared in the wee, thin hours (those calories never count),
for pink cheeks from brown rum,
for stories that tell the story we do not live.

 

for wit that impresses and the gratitude to find it
for the bounty that befalls us when we least expect it.

 

for being seen without alteration
and wanted still.

 

for just the right amount of contradiction
to strengthen your conviction
but teach you to listen.

 

for little kids who you can’t fool

(may they grow to adulthood and see so clear)

 

for mesmerizing camp fires that coax conversation to sweeter truths,
for the embers that do not die.

 

I have had these things and more,
but I am mostly

happy

‘cause I held you
happy to have loved you
just that once

and forever.

 

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