GREAT JOYS IN SMALL THINGS
Why would you prefer
your joys to be loud
as fire-crackers
in the market-place and have spectators shout

'Watch and listen, here is someone who has joys to show!'?
let your joys be silent
temperate as a gentle noon- day
happy is the heart which is content

Why should one display
that which is best kept
to oneself? to preserve and treasure
that which is beauty-wrapped

to last till the end of time
(how brief are those publicly-demonstrated one-day joys-
grand pageantry, pomp and circumstance
by the night to languish away as spoils)

Great joys follow those
with hearts simple and pure
drawn to the sweetness of flowers
and fair nature's every lure

Don't you see the glitter
of joy in the innocent child's eyes?
don't you feel the wonder
of a poem or a song that life beautifies

I am thankful for every small joy
it's the greatest gift that has been bestowed on me
in a silent and peaceful corner I dwell
counting my blessings--happy in simplicity.