a dollar for happiness

which circumstances
determine the joy
possessed in each
bottle of bubbles

I retrace patterns
and footsteps
in every memory
unable to recapture
their simplicity

I make spheres
out of sorrow
and watch them sink
rolling around like
marbles in the sand
of my mind-
leaving traces of
horrible signs
no one was able to see
but I

little girl in the hallway
with doors locked
all around
come outside
come outside -

I've a dollar
for bubbles
and a smile
to find