are you happy

are you happy, she asks,
with a smile on her face.

are you happy.

I laugh.
content, I tell her.
which is fine.

no one is truly happy
for very long.

and if they are they
have lost
their
minds

and should be in chains
behind
the wall.

but i'm always happy,
she says,
spinning around in
her new dress

under the rising sun.

too bad for you, I tell
her. too bad.

I have to run.