Is Happiness Merely An Illusion? Poem by RIC BASTASA

jingjing just posted an old picture
of a perfect family, complete with a
mother and father beside each other
mother's hand on father's lap
while father's arm rest on mother's shoulder
the three children behind them
all smiling to the click of the camera's
past.

life is hard. poverty comes. bonds break.
fate twists. the children grew to seek
the lives of their own choosing.
the father goes away and so does mother.

this old picture is posted. The father
from another country puts the song of tom jones
"one day soon" and another humperdeck song
"i will be coming home".

reality hurts. people walk away. goodbyes are
not even said that directly. hellos are odd.
reconciliation is meek. the wish for unification
is true. Humans are weak. Actions only speak.

the world is made up of splintered families.
moving on. yes, always, as always moving on and on.

is jingjing really coming home? a tongue-in-cheek?
perlita is a strong woman with lesser expectations.
the daughter thinks less with a family to raise.
the son is more practical: to believe only when it
finally happens.

nobody's gets the blame. Everyone is just fighting it out
inorder to survive. There is no space for depression
in the search for true love. Just do it, she says.
Just do it, she repeats it. She may welcome you here,
but you cannot stay.

the world is not a home anymore. It has always been a boat
sailing in the galaxy of darkness and emptiness. The only
thing most certain is the vagueness of this void.

it is Christmas. It will be a day of the family and the kids
and for another picture of hope, joy, faith and love.

all dreams come in. and then for the first day of the year
when each leaves and goes to their own ways of life again,
dreams break again. splinters and shatters.

this is reality. It hurts that is why it is so real.
is happiness merely an illusion?