Happiness is leaving me:
I got up the other day and thought I felt it but that was only
indigestion.
I took a walk out on the empty streets
left you behind
then I began to feel a lightness, release:
Happiness is leaving you.
© Experimentsinfiction 2020, All Rights Reserved
Written for dVerse Quadrille Monday, hosted by Lillian, who has asked us to include some form of the word ‘happy’ in our 44-word poem. Lillian’s poem, ‘Perky Patty‘ made me think of Peppermint Patty in Peanuts and the song ‘Happiness.’ I changed the lyrics a bit! Thank you Lillian twice over, for both the prompt and the inspiration 🙂
That last line- ‘Happiness is leaving you’ is a wonderful double entendre.
Thanks – it’s nice to think of the narrator as the embodiment of happiness, as well as someone experiencing it!
That’s funny, Ingrid, I thought of Peppermint Patty too! I smiled when I read ‘I got up the other day and thought I felt it but that was only indigestion’ – that’s what my people used to say when I swore I saw my new-born daughter smile. But yes, sometimes we can only find happiness by leaving the things that make us unhappy.
Oh I remember the first smile/indigestion. I think we parents know its a smile 😊. Maybe I was thinking of Alan Bennett when I wrote that line…
Oh that line about indigestion made me smile… love the change from the first line to the last… sometimes there is only way to get happy.
I’m pleased my happiness quadrille managed to raise a few smiles!
I LOVE anything about Charlie Brown….and Peppermint Patty was so fun! Love the photo here…and the idea of thinking happiness has arrived, only to have it be indigestion made me smile, as it did Bjorn. Sometimes the way to happiness is to take a powder…leave the past behind…in this case, a person. May we all find some happiness in our lives this evening! 🙂
I think it’s a great prompt, and fascinating to see the spectrum of responses!
Happiness can be many, many things. Nice observations.
Thank you!
Unfortunately I can’t find your quadrille following your link?
I had a bit of a mishap with my entry – it was the wrong end of a very long day! I’ll be back though! Thank you for looking for it though!
“thought I felt it but that was only
indigestion.” That made me laugh. I always liked that Peppermint Patty had a bit of an attitude.
I didn’t remember the song, even though my younger daughter was in the musical when she in high school. She sang “My New Philosophy.”
Nice one☺
Happy Monday
Much💙love
Thanks, Gillena! I am unable to comment directly on your blog, but I did enjoy your happy Song of Raindrops!
I’m pleased to have made a few people smile with that line 😅
You did! 😀
I love this, an exclamation of independence. I’ve walked away from two marriages and a dozen relationships. Then 30 years ago, I got lucky, and found my life partner and happiness.
It’s always possible to find it, and the best way to find it is by staying true to yourself.
Yep — often happiness is knowing when to walk away. (as the song says, “You have to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, and when to walk away”) Seems to apply to poker and romance, doesn’t it?
Yes – quite funny how the two are so closely aligned! There are many times I should have walked away and didn’t, until I learned that I too had value as a human being.
What an inventive idea, Ingrid. I love the flipping of the script between the first line and the last line.
Thanks Lisa 😊
My pleasure 🙂
nice one!!!! love this Ingrid!!! And congrats on the 500 followers!❤️👏👏👏
Oh thanks Cindy – it was pure blood sweat tears and toil that got me this far 😅 then some people are like ‘I’ve been blogging two months and I have 1000 followers’ – I’m glad for them really 😂
You’re so welcome!!! I do know what you mean but you know, good writing stands out and comes along in the end. I do know what you mean though and I’m not sure that the content always matches the followers for whatever it’s worth.. ❤️❤️❤️
That’s true: what matters to me is not followers but readers, people who actually read what I’m writing and appreciate and engage with it: like you ❤️😊❤️
Yes, I quite agree with you and the content of what you write.. It’s so inspiring.. It’s a joy to read what you write!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Like Lisa, that was the part that hit me (never heard of Peppermint Patty) but you got him out of her system in a nice one two and knockout blow in the last line.
Thanks, I used a little fun and poetic license!
I enjoy your sense of humour 🙂
Sometimes it is necessary to get out from under to be happy!
I love your poem, Ingrid, it has some delicious phrases! And only 44 words, I must give that form a try myself, to see if I can emulate your lovely example!
Thanks, Carolyn: you should join in at dVerse poets pub – I think the prompt is open all week😊
Thanks, I may take a look l.
Love this! I agree, happiness is sometimes involved in leaving certain toxic people who want nothing more than to control us. 💝
Absolutely!
our darker moments highlight our better times. remember them all to get their benifit.
That’s true: there is no light without darkness, and vice versa.
Laughing here. Glad you’re feeling better 😀 (though that’s a long road in front of you).
Well I used a bit of poetic license but I have been in this type of situation before. Glad it made you smile!
Happiness can be a release too, as you say, a lightness. Well done, you convey that feeling well.
Thank you Francis!
Awesome work, Ingrid. Open/close lines = brilliant
Thanks, Ron – I can never get the imagery into so few words so I try to pack a punch instead!
Nice shift in this one Ingrid!
Thanks, I’m pleased you enjoyed it!
What a fun quadrille Ingrid! Freedom is well …. freeing. I loved it ☺️
It is indeed! Glad you did 😊
This could apply to so many levels. The touch of humor adds to the piece.
Thank you 😊
Haha wonderful poem!
Pleased it made you laugh!
you got talent galore
this poem I adore!
I’m pleased you do, thank you so much!
my pleasure 🙂
this gives off the calming breeze. beautiful.
You gotta watch you don’t eat
Too quick get indigestion
Although it’s naught to do with poem
It’s only a suggestion….
Love this, Ingrid!
Indigestion to walking away… smiled and nodded 🙂
Loved this poem, Ingrid! <3 That feeling of "lightness" confirms that you made the right decision! Especially if that person gives you indigestion! 🙂 Take care!
Haha, yes I guess that’s a dealbreaker 🤣 thanks Cheryl.
Clever little poem! I like that the narrator walks the empty streets and transforms. Empty streets are something we would think of as lonesome but it creates a release of sadness. We all need that space at times to find our happiness.
We do indeed!
Oh, that shift between the first line and the last. I can’t believe I didn’t comment on this before. Cheeky and powerful.
Pleased you enjoyed it 😉
Very well written. Keep it up. I’ve followed you.😊 Please checkout my blog too. I hope you’ll have a good time reading my posts.
My blog link :- https://wordpress.com/home/jv4society.wordpress.com