EASY HAPPINESS

The music made him happy--
as happy, say, as a sky 
covered with comforting clouds, 
or a wagon waiting for a child 
to choose it for a ride, 
or even the pencil 
proudly lying beside him 
as he listens to the music. 
You can make life a problem, 
he knows, or you can 
carry it with you contentedly 
like an unsurpassed gift. 
He gets a lift 
even from looking at the fake
yellow flowers on his desk,
or from following the unfolding 
of a sentence as he reads it. 
Even dust on a sill 
sends him a message 
that starts him smiling.