HAPPINESS IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT

You must be present for the game

of this is all there is or be denied

the thrill of winning.

Love the passion of participation,

or play dead with the detached view

of an observer.

Make love with someone with a love

that cannot be plunged.

Stay out to lunch, or pay attention

with eyes in the back of your head.

Listen to canned laughter,

or wet your pants in guffaws

of glee at how hollow and full

of ribaldry is the heart of man.

Pilot a jet, or fly a drone,

neither one will get you home.

Finger a plastic peony or inhale

the scent of a living rose.

Delight in the distraction

of sexual attraction,

or you ain’t got no joie de vivre.