Am I happy?

What does that even mean?

Is it some permanent state

Carved in stone

Of where and what

And with whom

We are now?

Or is it just the sum

Of individual moments

With which we experience pleasure

Contentment, feelings, and highs

 

Or, perhaps

To spin it on its head

It’s the absence

Of sadness, regrets, and fears?

But surely happiness

Can’t just be when

The negatives aren’t there?

And don’t we all have those

And can’t they coexist

With the good things that we feel?

 

If happiness exists as a compromise

Between those two extremes

Then I’ll take the rough with the smooth

As long as there is a smooth

And as long as I get to choose

With whom I share the rough

And that would be enough

 

Nicholas O’Farrell 2021