"like needles, crystals, you are happy."
You Are Happy - Margaret Atwood | Anything with a friend
The Poem
You Are Happy - Margaret Atwood
We walk separately
along the hill to the open
beach, unused
picnic tables, wind
shoving the brown waves, erosion, gravel
rasping on gravel.
In the ditch a deer
carcass, no head. Bird
running across the glaring
road against the low pink sun.
When you are this
cold you can think about
nothing but the cold, the images
hitting into your eyes
like needles, crystals, you are happy.
The Beverage
Anything with a friend
Last night, I had a number of cocktails with an old friend. This morning, I had several cups of coffee with a newer one. Sometimes in this time of year, I get complacent about relationships and then get really lonely. Complacency and loneliness are a brutal combination that usually end with me continuing to not see people and then just be a mess. But this weekend has been the reminder I needed that taking the time in the middle of a snowstorm and cold snap to de-nest and see people who want to share a beverage and talk and laugh is worth it.
And now I am back home, basking in afternoon sunlight under a fuzzy blanket with my Himalayan salt lamp glowing and greens in a vase. I’m about to turn football on and wash my sheets. The little moments of companionship refilled the reserves I needed to finish my holiday projects and do my nesting chores on this cold, cold day, so I can dive back into warmth and solitude for a few days.