Happiness Is…
A sunny day early in the Paris spring.
Happiness is sun-dappled apple in its freshness
but lingering smooth like chocolate almonds melting on your tongue.
Hearing flowers grow or each blade of grass unfurl,
or gentling out of fluff lining the nests.
Happiness is hearing the bustle elsewhere
oneself in no hurry
quick only to smile at passers-by.
Sweet hesitations of nothings to fill a day.
A perch somewhere astray, to pontificate and contemplate
glimpses of famous monuments,
but no need to tick them off your list.
You admire the sleek and chick Parisian parents, their control
of pushchairs… breathe relief they’re not your own…
It’s the little everyday things we celebrate today on dVerse Poets Pub. Join us there for a drink, a chat and plenty of good poems!
findingtimetowrite 
I like the thought of sitting there just observing… to hear the grass unfurl… I see myself abask in the sun. Wonderful.
One of my favourite memories in recent years is of lying down in a meadow with a good friend and comparing cloud formations to animals, inanimate objects and such like. How long since we had done this, as children! You need to make time for this kind of thing in your life.
Ah! This is very evocative… a little pocket of escapism in an otherwise hectic morning 😊
This happened just after two days of delivering a rather strenuous training course, so it was a well-deserved rest…
A day with nothing to do, nothing to draw me along. Just to appreciate the most miniscule detail, like the sound of grass growing. Ha. To be immersed in the world around me. I could def go for that.
I like the thought of noticing the bustle everywhere, yet not being in a hurry oneself. And, ha, I smiled at the sleek Parisian parents with their strollers (American English- lol) & the breath of relief that the children aren’t one’s own. But..ah…being in Paris in Spring again would be far from everyday for me! Smiles.
Not quite everyday for me either, which is why I really appreciated every sight, sound and smell of Paris. But I was only there for a short while, so did not feel compelled to take in all the tourist sights.
I love the way this poem evokes those simple pleasures, Marina Sofia. If you just stay open to it, there really is a lot of everyday happiness out there…
How wonderful when one can be a by-stander and not engage in the everyday crazy pace of others. I like how the simple apple acquires the status of ‘chocolate almond’.
Don’t we all need both the sour taste and the sweetness in our lives?
I love France, and being a spectator there.
Oh yes. How wonderful to sit and observe the tid bits of life passing you by. I felt this poem deeply because I love to people watch.
Perhaps all poets are astute observers while in public, or the garden, or the backyard, or the forest, or at the sea–& you have described one of us performing at their peak, observing & appreciating all that is, slowing down the hectic swirl, keeping the chaos at arm’s length; nice job. I like your lines /a perch somewhere astray, to pontificate & contemplate/glimpses of famous monuments/.
That line is doubly meaningful to me, because I usually like to read guidebooks in detail and talk endlessly about each of the monuments we are seeing…
Ah, sitting back and enjoying knowing it is not your own.
paris in spring is AWESOME…oh… you stirred sth in me… love to sit somewhere and see people float by…
I think I was inspired by one of your poems about the Basel river banks…
a sunny and Spring day in Paris is truly all about happiness…
Ah.. gay Paris.. or is it Perrier.. not sure.. but the lights
of eyes in glistening water.. of rain dripped streets..
do bring nostalgia of a time well spent
dancing in the rain.. in
French moonlight..:)
I do like to “hear flowers grow!” A lovely reminder that there are so many every-day things that can make life a blessing…we don’t need something exotic or rare in order to have happiness.
Every day moments may seem ordinary. But the act of realizing them can put life into simple moments. Great lines Marina!
Hank