measure of happiness

he asked her once

just what she sought in life &

she spoke quick & precise---

“i just want to be happy.”

 

what this concept of

happiness,

at such a young age

would entail,

most certainly has changed throughout her life,

but what a brilliant answer to spit out

when confronted in youth.

 

having been molested by a family member

when she was a little girl,

she ran from one coast to the other,

leaving him in her wake &

carving a brand new life

with the scholarship of an intellectual who

prided herself on strength &

the love of living---

such a beauty to be present with,

if but for only a few moments.

 

and now she can be found traveling the world,

having risen to the top,

having accomplished so much in such a short time,

having begun to cross off lines of her

rather extensive bucket list &

he with only a memory

fading & fizzling out like the flame withering down to

the end of the candle,

wonders if she has come to that place,

where happiness resides,

where she can pinpoint the

goal

that she sought after so long ago.

 

for what is the measure of happiness?

if it is something that can be accomplished,

the what is left to be had?

if to be happy is a single state,

then is it not something of an immovable object,

a static self,

an unchanging reality,

which then by its very static nature

would seem to change by default

just as the world around it?