If happiness is what you seek,
Step away from fortune’s peak.
Leave behind the rush and gold,
And walk where simpler tales unfold.

See that meadow, vast and bright,
Where golden wheat sways in the light.
Through the fields a stream does glide,
Winding gently, free and wide.

Stand amidst the open land,
Feel the earth beneath your hand.
No voices call, no crowds are near,
Just whispering winds you’ll only hear.

Close your eyes, breathe in deep,
Let the hush in silence sweep.
Now tell me true, without delay,
Did peace not find your heart today?

See that old man by the square,
Waiting in the scorching air.
His carriage worn, his hands so frail,
His strength now lost in life’s travail.

Step inside, let him steer,
Take him anywhere you hold dear.
When your journey meets its close,
Watch him wipe his weary brows.

See the tremble in his hands,
Weighed with time’s unkind demands.
Give him more than what is due,
A token kind, a gift from you.

See the sparkle in his eyes,
As his worries fade and fly.
The weary face once lined with strain,
Now softened into joy again.

Look upon his grateful smile,
Lingering there a little while.
Tell me now, in this embrace,
Did you not touch true grace?

Your child returns with tear-stained face,
A playground quarrel, a bruised disgrace.
He speaks of how the bully’s might,
Had left him lost, consumed with fright.

The bully too, a child alone,
Hiding now, afraid to atone.
He fears the wrath, the bitter fate,
That surely comes when power waits.

Walk to him, where shadows fall,
See him cower, frail and small.
Kneel beside him, speak with care,
Erase the fear, the deep despair.

“Come,” you say, “we all make wrongs,
But kindness turns the weakest strong.”
A tearful nod, a hand held tight,
The cold of fear gives way to light.