Felicia Nimue Ackerman: Two takes on happiness

The poet’s cat, Winston.

— Photo by Monique Doherty (Photo was misattributed in earlier editions.)

How happy is the little cat
Who thinks my lap is where it's at
And doesn't see what lies beyond
So isn't ready to abscond
Until he glimpses, proud and free,
A bird perched nicely on a tree.
He'd try to catch it, have no doubt,
If I would only let him out.

“Child With Dove” (1901), by Pablo Picasso

How happy is the little child
Whose parents are indeed beguiled
And rush to meet her every need
With unabating love and speed,
Who never has to do a chore,
Or spend her time with any bore,
Whose days are filled with fun and glee --
Oh, how I wish that I were she!

Felicia Nimue Ackerman is a Providence-based poet and a professor of philosophy at Brown University.These poems first appeared in the Emily Dickinson International Society Bulletin.