Happiness: Three Species

1
is a scuffed, touchy old cat,
at home as any household god but - if you reach to stroke it -
liable to abruptly uncurl and leave the room.

2
is sacred, like the good health of the child,
to be glanced at sideways, not mentioned, for fear
of its opposite number impatiently ringing the doorbell.

3
is in passing, the sudden gate that swings
off an avenue of the senses: night, a foreign suburb
enshrined in one lit window, telling you where you are.


from my second collectionTHE SKY ROAD