At a recent after-school meeting a colleague asked the group …

What makes you happy?

Such a simple yet profound question.  My simple answer was watching the sunrise over a body of water with a hot cup of coffee.  But there’s more to it than that …

Not to wax lyrical but the older I get the more I realize that I am not a big city kind of guy.  It’s the simple pleasures of life that mean the most.  So, because I am teaching poetry, and because I always tell my students that poetry is great to get your emotions out, here is my feeble attempt to describe what I mean and bring out “the mood.”

Another day

Wooosh, wooosh, wooosh

Only the waves break the silence just before dawn.

It’s time.

My fingers rummage around the dark tent floor like a mole searching for the exit. 

Zip, zip, zip

Everything is still … absolutely still.

The soft sandy beach beckons me.

First one step. Then two.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Waves gently lapping the shore .

I find the perfect spot and sit.

My gaze floating past the water and scanning the horizon to the East.

Already the faint glow in the distance and the promise of a brand new day.

Alone with my thoughts.

The world still and quiet around me.

It won’t last long.

But long enough.

To make me happy.

For another day.

And no, the poem says nothing about coffee … that part comes after the magic is broken 😉