Choice (or not)

· by · in dVerse, poetry. ·

Are you chosen by joy
in the way a dust-moth dances
without effort in afternoon sun
or as a sea-song goes
to rest on the beach at sunset
as the moon-street guides you
into heavenly sleep?

Or do you choose joy by smiling,
when you wake at 5 am
a Monday in November to
lashes of rain on the window.
or when you slip in rotting
leaves left to die
bypassed by cars and by life?

Is there really a choice
or a way of looking at your glass?

Joy
Edith Vonnegut

Today Merril hosts dVerse with a prompt on Joy

November 5, 2024

27 responses to “Choice (or not)”

  1. I believe that we can choose joy (second stanza) despite the grey days in November. It takes effort to do that, and very much appreciated too. But lucky for the one who is chosen by joy. Love the kennings and closing question.

  2. Great choice of questions in your poem, Björn, and I do believe we can choose joy.  I love the idea of a sea-song going ‘to rest on the beach at sunset’.

  7. This is absolutely stellar writing, Bjorn! Wow! Yes, we can opt to choose joy even if days are grey 🩷🩷

  8. I wonder if joy is a choice, I know I don’t find joy when my printer doesn’t work for whatever mysterious reason and my whole idea of joy dissolves into frustration! Then of course I can laugh later, so perhaps rain, or sunny weather you can find some joy! I love the lightness of the dust-moth dances, expresses joy beautifully.

  12. I think joy has to choose us, but most of us can choose a sort of baseline cheerfulness that opens the door to joy. But it’s NOT done by saying “I choose to be happy today!”, pinning on a hideous politician-type grin, and demanding that other people guess how to say and do things that you judge to be “happy” or “positive.” Eww ick, that’s always seemed like the opposite of happiness to me. Cheerful people can cope with reality, pleasant and unpleasant. Cheerfulness is a function of good physical health; depression is a symptom of illness. If able to make healthy choices about food and drink, rest and exercise, many people can be cheerful even when living with other symptoms. (But if they judge the people who don’t feel cheerful, they deserve to feel depressed!)

  16. I would answer a heartfelt YES to choosing JOY. Every opportunity we get. Understanding it’s impossible under the very worst of circumstances …. an insightful, beautifully composed poem, Bjorn.

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