[The happy ones are almost always also vulgar]
Translated By Geoffrey Brock
The happy ones are almost always also vulgar;
happiness has a way of thinking
that's rushed and has no time to look
but keeps on moving, compact and manic,
with contempt in passing for the dying:
Get on with your life, come on, buck up!
Those stilled by pain don't mix
with the cheerful, self-assured runners
but with those who walk at the same slow pace.
If one wheel locks and the other's turning
the turning one doesn't stop turning
but goes as far as it can, dragging the other
in a poor, skewed race until the cart
either comes to a halt or falls apart.
Source: Poetry (December 2007)