The poem featured below was written by a student in WITS writer Laura Moulton‘s residency at Benson High School in the fall of 2020 and was published in the 2020-21 Literary Arts Writers in the Schools anthology, Curiosity in Ones and Zeros.

The Key to Happiness

by Kimanh N. Nguyen

I wished a wish upon a star,
but that wish didn’t get me very far.
The trees swayed in the wind,
and the crows cawed into the dark.
Rustling leaves crunched beneath my boots.
I was in my thoughts.

I dreamed a dream once upon a night.
To somewhere peaceful, where the neighbors were welcoming. The
light and airy breeze made the verdant grass dance. It was beautiful
and quiet,
but that’s not what I’m used to knowing.

Busy people and busy streets,
rushing to get from here to there,
and from there to somewhere else.
Where empty words are all that is said,
and blank expressions are all that I see.
Busy people live busy lives and don’t have time for waiting.

Patient people and patient roads,
calmly going here and there,
and from there to the next destination.
Where friendly chatter is said,
along with reminiscent stories that they tell.
Patient people make time for each other,
for patient people know what is significant.

Love comes in waves like the sea,
but it can freeze over like ice.
Love falls from the sky like raindrops,
but it can heat up and evaporate away.
Like a bird, it can fly so free,
and like a whale, it can dive so deep.
It can be sugar to coffee
or salt to a wound.

Love can be unpredictable and unkind,
but it must be felt and understood.
Without love, there is no kindness,
and without it, there can be no happiness.

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Purchase the WITS Anthology here.