The pursuit of happiness, and the thing one wants the most
My mom often would talk about those, while I often get lost
In her words that's filled with magic and grief
Oh, why is happiness so hard to achieve
I'm walking alone in this forest
Finding the happiness that I once dreamt of
Trying to Remember a story my mom told me, and where she last left off
"A hero that seek true happiness" she said,
"A hero once mighty, wept, slept and wished he was dead.
So he'd forever dream about his lost smiles
And the feeling of laughing whilst, conversing with the world he see
Oh, what a treasure that joy may be
Frustrated, his heart felt heavy and dense,
So he ran into the forest of dreams to slay the tense
And confessed everything that he felt in it"
Sadly that's all I remember from it
Agh! My head hurts
My knees hurt, but I just kept walking and thinking
For I want to feel that happiness while I'm living
And I want to see that Joy, that I'm seeking
WHAT DID HE DO TO ACHIEVE IT!?
He walked and ran, he walked and ran and he-
Confessed!
Yes! He confessed!
But what should I confess to?
Should I confess all the bad things that I do? Or
What I feel...
I suddenly stopped walking, and looked at the trees around me
They're encircling me slowly, dominating my sight and body
My knees felt weak and I muttered unhastily
I feel... Anxious
I then took a deep breath and closed my eyes
And as I opened it,
bright flashes of light streaked unto my sight blinding me
I then heard unrecognizable murmurs
Deafening me and giving my brain tremors
They're gossiping and spreading rumors
And amongst all of the voices, one stood out
He kept laughing, laughing and held a proud shout
So I focused unto him despite the lights
His voice is getting deeper, my throat is getting tight
So when my eyes adjusted unto him, I saw
A figure,
A perfect figure of a man tall and lean
He's not small, nor big- he's a bit in between
But although I can't make out his face, I can see a silhouette
He has a chiseled jawline, and a bulky chin,
He danced with the lights gracefully,
Exclaiming
"They love me, they love me, they all love me, keep praising Aren't I so lovely?"
As I see him dancing so airily
I wanted to ask him how can you be happy
But before I could muster up my words
His once careful steps, then became erratic
His voice, became desperate as the praises became static
His movements became faster and faster,
And he yelled louder and louder
"THEY LOVE ME! THEY LOVE ME! PLEASE PRAISE ME! AREN'T I LOVELY?"
And as the once blinding light, reduced into one
He stepped closer to me, and the once perfect figure was gone
His chiseled jaw and chin, became soft flapping skin
His perfect body, now shaped like a circle Wearing a gross grin
And as his head wore down he looked at me
His piercing stare, pierced my soul directly
And as my feet trembled, I asked he
"How can you be happy?"
But before he could muster up his words,
Our ears relaxed to a little voice we heard,
Singing soft and slow, making our attention deter
To the void that surrounded us
The voice, is echoing throughout our heads
It's getting louder, as it getting closer
His face then turned from smiling to dread
He then looked at me with pure shock and terror on his face
He shivered as he mumbled his words with haste
"My na-"
"Who am I?"
"I'm-"
But before he could finish his words
He then looked behind his back seeing some lady, his terror I can't put into words
And as his world crumbled right in front of me
A whirl wind of emotion, took my tears indirectly
The lady then hugged him tight as he's getting absorbed in her body,
Slowly sucking his life away,
But he just kept screaming, screaming and screaming his lungs out
Screaming for dear life, almost pulling his tongue out
But with my body frozen in place, all I can do is watch him dissipate
His body then turned to ashes, making me look ahead at my fate
She then looked back, and smiled menacingly
It then came flying unto me, a metal plate,
With on it something engraved
"FAME"
Finally my legs woke up,
I ran and ran and ran and ran without looking back
And I breathe and breathe and breathe and breathe, without lack
So kept running, and as the once void I was in
Became the forest again
I stopped running to collect my breath and then
I've thought of fame...
Who was he?
Why did that happen to him?
Was he... happy?
And As I've thought of the smile, he wore to deceive
I then felt the words inside of my mouth leave
The words "Why is Happiness so hard to achieve?"
But I wanted to try again,
So I searched deep inside my heart, within
This guarded tiny walls
Dark, colorless halls
And soundless, empty balls
And as I searched harder
I saw... Me
I saw me, feeling tiny and heavy
As if I'm just a small screw, in a large contraption waiting to break when ready
I don't feel enough...
I keep preaching that I want to make people happy
But when they need me the most, I never know how to stop it
When their tears are overflowing, I cannot seem to drop it
I...
If only I had something...
I then regained focus back unto my world
When my eyes opened, I then hurled
When my sight came clear it then unfold
The forest now is made of gold
My eyes widened in amazement
The shiny trees, and the sparkling pavement
Big rocks with fancy engravement
I then wore a wide grin, still my eyes is widened
And as I was looking around, I saw an old man and he saw me back
He then ran at me, carrying a big sack on his back
He then grabbed me, stretching his face up to his ear,
He then exclaimed
"A visitor!"
"Come! Meet my friends that I hold dear",
He then pushed me at the direction he came from
Dancing while walking, repeating the same song
Over and over again,
He then stopped and came enthusiastically on my face
He then pointed ahead on 4 golden sculpted clays
"Those are my friends!!" He exclaimed
"Where!?" I talked back
But he stared at me, and grabbed the sack on his back
And gave me a gold coin, as if that should keep me on track
He then looked at my eyes
"Those are my friends!!" He again exclaimed
His eyes stared at me longingly
Yet the smile on his face looked the same
He- his face looks happy
Yet his eyes tells a different story
It feels... empty
It's like a void waiting to be filled up
Like a dark ominous hole waiting to be lit up
To reveal the skeletons inside
That's Beneath his happy face
So I asked he, what is this place
He then answered " welcome to the land where none is sad
Where happiness is all that we had
And when someone ever feels down
Give them a gold crown and the frown, should disappear"
"Is this the happiness that I often hear?" I asked myself
So wanting to stand clear,
I let my curiosity drive near, the answers I seek
So In a knick I asked he,
"where are your friends?"
"Friends!?" He asked
He then looked around, and pointed at our surroundings
"HERE! HERE ARE MY FRIENDS!"
his eyes then widened in excitement
"Are those my friends I hear?"
He then grabbed a rock that's near
And banged it with such sheer
Force, that with just a mere
Sight of it, brought my heart fear
With a sudden pace, he turned and looked at me, holding back his tear
He then said
"Here dear, is the friend I hear"
His friend is a face carved on a golden rock
It looks miserable, like it's waiting for time to end on the clock
And as it's dissevered eyes and forced smiles looked haunted
It made me ask myself "Is this the happiness that I wanted?"
Cause my smiles at first was with amazement,
Then those smiles turned to enragement
But now it feels lonely
So I asked he, "Are you happy?"
He looked at me confused and daunted how happily he flaunted
He then said
"All of my deeds are done,
Don't remember the rains only the sun
Cause all of this are the wishes that I granted
This is all the seeds that I planted
All of my dreams I planned it
So just I could get to now,
Where I just bought everything that I wanted
So that all my sadness would be gone
But suddenly now, all I want is none"
His once happy demeanor, then turned miserable
His once envied fate, turned undesirable
And as tears are rolling down his cheeks
He has now escaped, money's tricks
He just whined and whined and let out the emotions he kept within
The gold in our surroundings then melted, and we then
Saw it's true colors and forms
It's a withered forest, dark and gray with lightings and thunderstorms
Although the thunders are loud
It's getting muffled and drowned
By the voice and sound
Of a woman singing
She getting closer, leaving my body and knees trembling
My heart's now pounding faster and faster
Leaving my knees weak, and bending
My sanity harder and harder
As I'm close to snapping, I focused unto the man's face
His eyes is looking ahead at better days
And as the beautiful tune is echoing throughout my head
The man turned around
His once empty smile is now filled with dread
Dreaded he looked at me
He's mumbling, while the lady's hugging him tightly
She's singing inside his ear softly
The man relaxed unto her arms
His eyes then widened as he seems to figure something out
He's stuttering struggling to get the words out of his mouth
"I - I - I I know who I am"
"I can finally relax, but this realization is a damn"
With a sudden curiosity bubbling up my body
I asked he
"Who are thee?"
"Who am I?" He asked back
"Im a man so miserable, that see no light just black
I'm a man so miserable, that I can't keep my ego intact
I'm a man so miserable, that I spend most of my days as if I was sick
I'm a man so miserable, that I run away from the very thing I seek
I'm a man so miserable, that I am you"
He then turned into gold, and melted away
The lady then sucked him dry, releasing a plaque that's clay
And written on the plaque I see, I see the word
"MONEY",,,
The lady then glanced at me when I ran,
She then dashed at me in a flash
My thoughts came flashing with me when they stashed
WHY!? Why does this keep happening?
My efforts on finding Happiness keeps dampening
The joy, I just want the joy to balance with the suffering
Am I miserable? Why did the forest show me fame and money!?
Those won't last, those won't keep my world sunny
I just ran and ran, until I'm back at the forest again
But this time, it's filled with snow
It's a blizzard, making the coldness bestow
Sufferings inside of me
I'm cold
It's freezing slowly what my heart dearly hold
But I kept running, my tears solid
Why did the forest show me fame and money, when the Joy they can't even hold it
Fame loves being loved
Money loves buying love
But none has the Joy they want to have
While running my body gave in the cold
Hypothermia caught up to me, making me think of the old
Times when I was with mom
Her words, her words about happiness gave me seldom
My eyes then slowly closed as I remember the past
The stories, the stories inside thy heart I hast
My body's losing it's footing
My heart beat slowed down making my blood stop moving
And as I see a light above, I heard
"The hero then prayed to the God above,
He prayed for he realized that the key to happiness, is confessing the thing he love"
I finally remember my mom's words
The words she used to assert
My heart then came warmer and alert
I then heard singing, a beautiful tune it's bringing
My ears then danced with wind they blew
I opened my eyes, seeing a woman a bright light she glew
She's getting closer making me see her clearly
Her cat slanted eyes, just merely
Captures her presence
The snow they fall slow
As if it's taking their time to see her glow
She's singing, she's singing a beautiful sow
" They say the snow is so cold,
It's make belief
Cause when I'm with you the fire I can hold
It made me believe
That I, enjoy the life I live
Cause you're my joy, when my smile leave
Cause you're the one that made me feel
Like a flower, blooming in the field
I can always ask if this is real
Cause when the demons attack, I can defend
And when eternity leads us to the end
I'll wait another eternity to see you again"
Her bright red lips sang that beautiful words
My body then heat up I can't put my feelings into words
As I remember what fame told me a while
I've been seeking happiness while
Running away from Joy
And as the heat on my body receive
Is this the happiness I wanted to achieve?
As this doubtful words fell out of my mouth
She stopped singing and put her hands around my mouth
She then lifted up my head
My body's heating up, the coldness; the coldness is now dead
As I looked up in her eyes
I was sucked in, her beauty inside I was mesmerized
Her face was perfect, but inside was a lot more
It's poking me, it's poking me inside of my core
So when our faces is slowly getting close
I was getting ready to open one final door
As my breathing became stable, our eyes met and I was unable to stop
Our face is so much closer, My words I couldn't drop
I said slowly
"If love is the key to happiness, and happiness happens to be you"
Our face then came close together, and as I was getting ready to say my final confession
I whispered under my breath
"Then Joy, I Love You"
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1 comment
Wow!! That was one rollercoaster of emotions!! I really enjoyed it! I feel like you've really reflected society and its stereotypes, and how fame and money are taken to be equivalent to happiness, while actually, they aren't. The part where he says that he loves Joy is my favourite, I absolutely adore hidden meanings. Keep up the good work! I'll be looking forward to reading more of your submissions!!
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