Happiness
Our ancestors in the earth are not
Ashamed of us. The strong smell
Of dirt, the delirious rabbits, the
Clocks are all disappearing. A
Prehistoric gift acquires the smell
Of salt. I grasp onto winter’s tail.
Some water plants are lying around.
Smell & taste, I have had good
Luck in love. The slippery roads,
The capricious numbers on a blazing
Road, meet me at the forest’s edge
Where we can go with our legs
Lopped off, strangers to the clean
Teeth and tongue of outward happiness.
Copyright © 2015 by Noelle Kocot. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 8, 2015, by the Academy of American Poets.
“This poem is from a series of over seventy sonnets (and counting) that I started this past February. While the title might be misleading, I think that in the language of the poem, there is some joy to be had, so it’s not all irony.”
—Noelle Kocot
Noelle Kocot
Noelle Kocot is the author of nine collections, including Ascent of the Mothers (Wave Books, 2023); God’s Green Earth (Wave Books, 2020); and Soul in Space (Wave Books, 2013). Kocot’s poems have been anthologized in Best American Poetry in 2001, 2012, and 2013.
Kocot is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, The Fund for Poetry, and the American Poetry Review. They were also the recipient of a residency fellowship from the Lannan Foundation.