MUSIC
POETRY
2010
PRESS
NARRATION
ABOUT US
COMEDY
Almost Summer
Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.
—Chuang-tzu
This is one of those days
you lie down on the soft grass
and pick a flower
to play with it for hours,
thinking of nothing, nothing at all.
Ants discover your hand—
and you? Well, you don’t mind,
besides, it feels nice—
you think you’re growing wise
while far away the clouds stately sail.
A mild sun is about,
and nothing you’ve ever known
will spoil this weather.
Your mind is almost in summer,
floating on slow waves lightly away.
You’re alone, and no one
has been your companion so far.
You’re gazing on high,
wondering just why then the sky
is all that you need for today.
Three, four birds still warbling,
secretly mingling melodious sounds,
seem to have captured
all of your being. Enraptured,
you listen before they quietly go.
Would you ever have figured
that all that you are could
dissolve for a while
(except for your lingering smile)
to almost nothing for an hour or so?
Ah, you’re almost lost now
while silence on silence descends.
You’re not at all here.
Some faint echos disappear.
Deep in your self you know they’re going.
Your day is like a ray from
a land where summers arise.
The sun is touching you freely,
and this is how you are feeling:
your life is as bright as your being!
You dream you could stay there
like clouds suspended on high.
It doesn’t surprise you
that the horizon,
though distant, seems radiant and close.
The light and the shadows
are having the time of their lives!
From numerous branches outspread,
a tree overhead
sheds patterns, rich in shade and repose.
You can’t for a moment
imagine that this day will end.
There’s nothing quite like it—
all is so perfect,
and have you not always known why that is so?
The grass is so mellow—
all of a sudden, a breeze
is all in your hair.
You’re at one with the air,
but . . . are you getting up now . . . are you meaning to go?
Hmmm? This summer day? Nah, I don’t think so, no . . .
© 1988 Freddy Niagara Fonseca
Design and copyright 2009 Freddy Niagara Fonseca
Fairfield Creates
