Exuberance
By Michele T. Fry, 1997

Exuberance is quite an uncommon phenomenon.
Wherever it pops up, discomfort ensues.
For each Tigger who bounds through the forest with gladness
there are hundreds of Eeyores and Poohs.

People feel crowded when you bubble over,
they label you caustic, self-centered or rude.
So I've delved deep within to explore how my sin
of exuberance ought to be viewed.

For it's not that I love what I am, as such,
that I fill up each day with good cheer.
It's just that I love being alive so much,
I'm ecstatically glad to be here!

I've chanced to be born on this green and blue globe
in an otherwise blackened abyss.
It beats almost all of the odds, don't you know,
that I'm living! I'm sentient! It's bliss!

I've eyes that can see, and ears that can hear,
and a mind that can process the data.
They entertain me with spectacular vistas
that cost not a penny. Pro Rata!

So if you see me prancing, or preening, or glowing,
or loving to hear my own voice, it's that!
Plus, the joy which I feel being born in an Age
with some semblance of Freedom of Choice!

 

It exhilarates me to be served up a plate
from life's overwhelming bazaar--
there's flowers, and friendships, soft mattresses, corn chips,
and zooming around in my Z-car!

With a flick of the wrist I can dial up a mood--
talk radio, jazz, or concertos.
With a much shorter work week, I'm free to have hobbies,
read novels, write poetry, travel.

There's T.V. and Google and National Parks,
hot tap water, vaccines, dishwashers,
There's interstate highways and no-iron fabrics.
and flush-away sewerage. There's Wal-Mart!

We all live like KINGS in this 20th century.
Our poorest are richer than monarchs of old.
We've phone lines, and free schools, and aisles of cheap produce
and credit! The list just seems endless!

So lest you confuse my delight for conceit or
self-confidence, you read me wrongly.
I just know the odds against living as we do,
and savor each day with exuberant song.
How can anyone not sing along?