Happiness
Stephen Dunn
A state you must dare not enter
with hopes of staying,
quicksand in the marshes, and all
with hopes of staying,
quicksand in the marshes, and all
the roads leading to a castle
that doesn't exist.
But there it is, as promised,
with its perfect bridge above
the crocodiles,
and its doors forever open.
Sponsored by the Friends of Rye Town Park
Stephen Dunn, "Happiness" from New and Selected Poems 1974-1994. Copyright © 1994 by Stephen Dunn. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.