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i sit on this table, now,
glossy---

with a snake of store lights
curving around my handle.

i have been burned in the kiln
and survived---

protected by ceramic gratitude;
not only have i survived you,

i am capable of holding
another heated brew---

capable of withstanding the fire
and being kissed by other lips.

     resting in the new hands'
     contentment.

:::

a young asian boy

breaks off a piece of cookie

and offers it to his mother.

she jokes to him.

she declines his favor.

this boy
has given his mother something else:

rippling creases

at the sides of her eyes.

:::

a smile denoting

the emotion of happiness

is considered

one of the universal facial expressions;

     for around the world,

     sand is simply sand.

     and all of us,

     we are a colony of ants.

     nothing more than that,

     we are here,

     doing what we can

     to build our ant hill;

go anywhere

and a smile given,

is happiness received;

   
     keep building the hill.

:::

when i feel joy,

i feel like a bird;

at the end of my last effort,

i throw my wings out---

and glide on the life before me.