Minor Holiday Afternoon

The world, if we may misquote
Octavia Butler, is
Most formal and serene when

It is lying. Don’t you love
The world when it is lying?
You should. When it is lying,

The serene and formal world
Suggests all’s full of perfume,
The stars are decorations,

The sunny days will not parch,
The rainy nights will not flood,
The winters are cake frosting,

The deserts gliding sculptures,
The forests full of magic,
The grass all yours to roll in

Every hour, if you’d like that,
Every pause like this one when
Contentment belongs to life.