Pursuit of happiness

~ paeansunplugged

No bondage is worse than the hope of happiness.’– Carlos Fuentes, Diana: The Goddess Who Hunts Alone, Bloomsbury, 1995

Hope alights quietly on my shoulder
helping me navigate deep waters of life
Hope keeps my heart beating
when shocked by brutality, it refuses to beat
Hope gently puts me to fitful sleep
after an agonizingly long hard day
Hope holds my hand firmly at crucial times
when there are no shoulders to lean on
Hope, for me, is not a chimera
I battle naysayers with hope on my side.

But often the hope of happiness
has me so hopelessly in its thrall
I pursue it with relentless single-mindedness
enslaved by the idea of true pure joy
I forget to embrace all that comes by
the journey no longer enjoyable
Becoming a captive of the idea of elusive happiness
I forget to be content with what I have.

Written for dVerse. Today’s host, Linda, says: I have chosen 12 opening sentences from this little book for you to ponder over and choose one that will serve as a jumping off point for your poem today. Below are the sentences, with the Author and book title. Please reference which sentence you chose, either as an epigraph or author’s note.

73 thoughts on “Pursuit of happiness”

  4. I love the rhythm of this poem and the sentiment as well. Yes, hope can be our savior and our downfall for sometimes hope leads into expectation and that nearly always leads to disappointment.

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  7. As always the beautiful flow and philosophy in your poem about dealing with the cards given and not desperately seeking other ones that are more likely than not simply not there … wonderful Punam..

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  14. Hope is a tricky affair. Sometimes having hope makes you stop growing. It stops you from getting a closure which is essential to move forward. It is important to know when to let go of hope.

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  17. Becoming a captive of the idea of elusive happiness
    I forget to be content with what I have.

    Love the close Punam. It cleverly puts a finality of hoping when one ought to be grateful with the current blessings which many take for granted. Wonderful write Ma’am!

    Hank

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  22. Punam, these lines are powerful:
    “Hope, for me, is not a chimera
    I battle naysayers with hope on my side.”
    I like how you delineate between hope and hope for happiness. Hope feels more like faith, where it isn’t anything in particular, where you will take whatever blessings may be bestowed; whereas hope for happiness is not only getting “greedy” but also setting one up for disappointment. You did a great job of showing all of that in your poem. Wonderful wordsmithing.

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  23. Very nicely done Paean. I think hope for happiness lies within us. I really liked this…
    Hope holds my hand firmly at crucial times
    when there are no shoulders to lean on

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  25. “hope for happiness” It is what can bring us down, but also buoy us up, and there are those who are fortunate enough to have found the ability to just be happy. Another wonderful poem.

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