Happiness by Rabindranath

Today, it’s a cloudless day. Happy skies 
Smile like friends. The breeze flits, flies
Embracing the face, chest, eyes — 
Like an invisible aanchol billows high 
Only to descend on a sleeping deity. 
Peacefully on Padma’s waves, the ferry
Sails swishing joy. Relaxed sandbanks
Lie sunbathing at a distance. 
The high sloping sides are interrupted
By tall shady trees, a hidden hut. 
A narrow, curved path from a distant village 
Crosses the farms and nears the water’s edge
Like a thirsty tongue. Rural brides
Wash their clothes, chatter awhile, 
Joke. Their loud sweet laughter 
Mingle with the sounds of water
To waft to me. A fisherman, aged, 
Sits on a bent boat, weaves a net  
While sunning his back. A naked child 
Laughs merrily while he dives 
Again and again into the water. Patient, 
Padma gazes like an indulgent parent. 
From the ferry, I see two shores — 
The clearest lucid blue expands galore. 
Amidst a flood of light, exotic lines are seen 
In the water, land, forests. On a warm breeze, 
The ferry sails past shores with groves, sometimes, 
Scent of mango buds waft, only at times, 
Faint sounds of bird calls. 

                      My mind 
Is filled with peace — I feel
Happiness is simple. It spreads like
Flowers in bowers, like the smile
On the face of a child — expectant lips
Holding the nectar of a kiss, 
Gaze silently forever laced 
With artless innocence. 
The sky is immersed and stilled 
with the harmony of music in sync. 
How will I sing in tune with those notes? 
How will I sound? How will I compose 
The lyrics in simple words to gift 
To my beloved so that they bring 
A smile to her eyes, her lips?
How will I help unfold this to my love? 
How will I convey the joy from above? 
It’s tough to hold on, to clasp. 
I chase it but it eludes my grasp. 
I look for it. I walk fast— 
Like a blind man, I stumble afar. 
But it’s now lost. 
                           I gaze 
All around, fascinated, focussing
On this still, blue water, so calm. 
And I had thought it was easy to clasp.

*Aanchol is the loose end of a sari