As I walked home from the Rec Center
I passed the mailman on the uneven
cement sidewalk;
The cement slabs frozen
in storm-tossed frenzy.
He smiled at me and nodded.
"Gee, the mail is going out early today"
I said happily to myself.
And suddenly,
without any external compulsion
or evident reason,
I became a happy man.
Happiness welled up inside of me
like a Texas gusher --
lifting me up into the clear
blue sky, soaked clean through
with a thorough delight in my
surroundings.
Twin cottonwoods stood
sentinel at the next street corner;
the grass lay grizzled around them
with thick fuzz.
This, too, seemed right and good --
just the way things ought to be
on a fine day in late spring,
with brown summer haze hovering just
beyond the mountains.
"This sure beats being
poked in the eye
with a sharp stick"
I told a robin looking for
worms under a lilac bush.
He cocked his head
and stood his ground.
I was grateful for his
trust in me.
When I got home I mailed
a check to UNICEF.
Then I threw out
all my medications
and went out on the patio
to count the colors in
the driveway gravel.
