The Happiness Test
June 26 2007


According to this questionnaire
the experts prefer “subjective well-being”
to “happiness”;
which, I agree, sounds much more scientific
than that banal and shallow word.
Anyway, I took a stab at the quiz
and found-out I didn’t pass,
too far down
even to be rescued by the bell curve.
So all I could hope for was credit for term work
and good attendance
to make up for the final exam.

Apparently, I’m a dark brooding introvert
who isn’t cheerful first thing in the morning,
and hasn’t quite yet
nailed-down life’s greater purpose.
I also don’t mingle enough
and despair too much at man’s persistent folly.

So I have resolved
to stop reading newspapers
and volunteer at the local food bank.
I will ladle-out thin green soup
the colour of peas left to boil;
and listen to mashed potatoes glop
onto mismatched plates;
and smile through the steam
at shabby gap-toothed men
who are wary, but grateful
to be in out of the rain.

They hunch over dented trays
and eat in silence;
some quick and furtive,
others slow
— paying close attention,
savouring every bite.
Because unlike the rest of us
the penniless have the luxury of time.

We are all happy, here
in this exact moment.
Which is really all you can hope for.