THE GOOD LIFE

by John Field   2015

Hello out there, hello. This is the way it is, 

The whole story.
Undamaged by night another morning arrives 

Recognized into existence

The moment we open our eyes,
A miracle touching us as nothing else will
Until the same thing happens again tomorrow. 

Think what we like about the pain in our knees, 

The checks that bounced
And our best friend dead (the other one too) 

Believe me, my friends, the luckiest thing
That ever happened to us
Is having been born.

Rejoice, the good life is on its way:
Sunlight slanting through the kitchen window 

At just the right angle, the exhilaration
Of bacon and eggs on the table 

Accompanied by a warm baguette
And marmalade, the works,
Great to gaze at
But better to taste lips first
And then our throats a rising estuary
As we flood ourselves with coffee, 

Contentment and good will,
A feeling so fine
It’s almost as if we’ve been chosen
To play a major role
In what the world would be like
If the human race
Ever learned how to behave itself.

However, leave the morning paper unread 

Because there is so much not to worry about 

When a moment like this occurs:
Leaks in reactors,

Twisters beating our cities flat
And terrorists at ease with their zeal
As they hack off the limbs of family trees 

While we breathe the scented air,
Yearn for love
And contemplate the stars,
How ancient they are, how very far away.