happiness is

happiness resides in the body
in the heart and in the lungs
in the stomach, in the muscles
in the hands, the feet, the brain
the cock, the eyes, the liver

happiness despises the soul
and the spirit and immortality
happiness knows death
and understands death
it accepts death
as a need
like thirst and sex and hunger

happiness does not run from death
or seek remedies to death
in promises and lies of heavenly bliss
or nirvana

happiness is the heaving chest
the flowing blood
the aroused senses
the clear, clean mind
the simplicity of being

happiness is the conquest of fear
of hate, of greed, of lust, of vanity, of weakness
and the transformation
of the self
the transformation of the self
into the work of art
the transformation of the artist
into the art
into being both the sculptor and the sculpture
of one's life

happiness is not eternal, or infinite, or ideal
happiness is not beautiful, or touching
or surreal
happiness is simple

as simple

as the heaving chest
the flowing blood
the aroused senses
the clear, clean mind
and the simplicity of being