Happiness Blues

There isn't the slightest sob!
 Not a slender tear!
 No, no sliver of lightening!
 Never a flustered nerve!

I've been packaged to the meadows
Sorrows made fallow
 Black eyed and fat lipped inside
                   wrapped with little hearts and bunny strips



       They say I'm a princess
     and treat me like one too



But Rapunzel's have tripped

and so have the Cinderella's

Reviews

[Priyankaabhilaashi]

सुंदर..

पसंद आया..

�™िखते रहिये यूँ ही..

[msharma]

A combination of sadness and and encouragement. Great,loved it.

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the poem. There is a lesson in your words also. I like the logic of the closing lines. No guarantee for anyone. Even a princess. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Writer #00]

Hm... There's something simultaneously melancholy and encouraging about this poem, a reassuring bittersweetness that is beautifully captured in the seemingly paradoxical title alone, and elaborated upon in the entirety of the poem itself, ending in the dismantling of the childhood fairytales and blindly expected "happy endings".

I'm not sure how I should interpret this, to be honest I found myself bombarded by both ends of the poem. First, the happiness, seeming to be one of mindless joy brought about for some unknown reason, perhaps none at all. However, as the poem progresses, the declaration of jubilation the narrator expresses seems almost too energetic, as if the "happiness" and lack of tears and anxiety are all a sad facade, an attempt at self-deception. "Not a slender tear!...Never a flustered nerve!" The use of negatives in the opening stanza seems only to heighten this ironically quite saddening (at least to me) poem, as if the narrator's charade of happiness is revealed for what it is. Instead of saying "I only smile now...My calm is indelibly within" or something with more grammatical positives, the narrator opts only to denounce sadness as opposed to moving past it and into truly exclaimed happiness. It leaves one to wonder if such words of happiness are even in the narrator's vocabulary, if the narrator has forsaken sorrow for apathy or false exuberance.

The following stanza confirms these suspicions of self-deception, "Black eyed and fat lipped inside..." the narrator proudly(?) acknowledges its internal hurt, telling the reader that its happy veneer is but a farce, a sort of defense-mechanism against emotional pain, one that, instead of defending, merely serves as a sweet coat for a bitter pill. I'm not sure whether this speaks for the depressed or, perhaps, reaches into a broader spectrum, projecting the true nature of most--if not all--humans. Perhaps your poem is making a bold and unfortunate statement, recognizing the inability of those without to accurately address one's own emotional torment, forcing one to eventually bury it deep within, wipe one's tears, and put on a smile for the end of one's personally grim fairytale, masking the injuries of one's stumbles and falls so that all the readers can truly believe it was, indeed, a "happy ending".

Beautifully writ in its simplicity (I don't think "Rapunzels" and "Cinderellas" need apostrophes as they are plurals and not possessives, but I'm not sure what protocol is for names (I've never done that before : ) ), you have picked the perfect phrasing, spacing, and wording for the subject matter. Extremely thought-provoking, and I am inexpressibly grateful to you for having written and shared this. Keep writing!!!! : )

[Saddam]

I've been packaged to the meadows
Sorrows made fallow
this is a awesome poem dear, love the way you express this. great read and great write.

[Sami Khalil]

"I've been packaged to the meadows
Sorrows made fallow
Black eyed and fat lipped inside
wrapped with little hearts
and bunny strips"

A splendid read and write...Thank you for penning...:)..................