It’s Quadrille Monday again at the dVerse Poets Pub, and Lillian encourages us to create a 44-word poem using some form of the word ‘Happiness’.
(I’m counting all my hyphenates as single words…)
———-[|||]———-
Shrunk
I have lived in the underground before, but
it was only the ‘fallen-off-the-grid’ underground.
It was the ‘nothing’s-worth-paying-attention-to-anyway’;
the ‘no-one-really-gives-a-damn’ underground.
I thought I was happy then,
and I guess I was, but…
This time, things are different. This time
the underground’s much smaller.
—————[|||]—————
dVerse Poets Pub
Quadrille Monday
~ HAPPINESS ~
———[||]———
Scrambled, Not Fried 
A-okay to have hyphenated words count as one word…poetic license to make up those hyphenated words as well.
I find this a fascinating post. There is so much unsaid here….the context of going under the first time versus now….the reasons….
This is a thought provoking post!
May your underground grow smaller yet!! Great write!
sounds like you are going deep, good luck!
This is brilliantly executed. The use of hyphenated words add further depth to the meaning of the poem 💝
In the thick of it Ron. I’ve mistaken so much for happiness that really wasn’t. What will the railroad down there look like this time?
There is a lot to ponder here.
Isolation and apathy are not good components of happiness. When I think of who I was at 20, I am stunned–so much more to learn, and to become.
Luv the stress and focus of your compounded words
Happy Monday Ron
Much💙love
The hyphenated words give the piece so much voice and depth here! I sense this trip to the underground is more frightening than the last. Shrunk is a good title here!
A thought-provoking piece, Ron: I wonder where your underground is and if it’s a happy place for you?
I get what you’re saying, Ron. Years ago, when I suffered from agoraphobia, my world was tiny, in a little flat on the second floor. My world shrank during the pandemic, and the first time around it was hard because I thought I missed people. However, when the lockdown was relaxed, I found out what idiots some people are and, with lockdown just around the corner again, I’m not worried. I have a garden, cats to keep me company, and the Internet to keep in touch with the people I love and respect. Happiness is relative.
So much to think about here. I wonder about this underground.
I feel that happiness in the underground is impossible if it’s too cramped to exist in.
This was really good Ron. I read the underground as withdrawal. Going within where happiness, usually other people’s, is not so visible. I’m happy it has shrunk for you but until you’re sure it’s safe to stay there. Of course I may be completely wrong 😧 Nice write!
I think I can guess what goes on in your underground. It’s smaller, and probably much more worthwhile.
I started to leave a comment here yesterday and it got swallowed up. The underground I expect 🙂
This is a thought provoking poem. The first underground sounds like a place of avoidance. Now things are different. I have a feeling there is more for you to share on this topic. I enjoyed you poem.