It's Necessary To Talk About Being Happy

I hear Coyote sing her howling song

Inviting me down the worn dirt path

Along the tree and fern lined ridge.

The aroma of moist mossy mud

wafts into my nose.

She gooses me and laughs

And then she wiggles between my legs,

and circles around to take the lead.

I follow her to the pond where

Abuelita, my grandmother, sits with her feet

splashing the water.
Coyote lies beside her

As I start to sit Coyote jumps up

and pushes me into the pond

I gulp, and splash, and climb out,

laughing along with Abuelita and Coyote

“It's necessary to talk about being happy,”

Coyote says.

Abuelita pulls me close and whispers

“She knows a secret,

It is necessary to listen now”
The water lilies float in the pond,

the birds sing in the trees above me,

Coyote places her paws on my lap and speaks,

“You do not make the sun shine.

You can not make the Earth turn

the way you want it to.

But You can view the world anew

and see the beauty all around you.

You can be the bright smile

that lights the world and makes

the people want to be like you.
Surely, you are happy.

Yes?”

Abuelita puts her foot in the pond

and splashes me

I smile and nod.

“Yes, it's necessary to talk about

Being happy.”