THE WORLD IS AWASH WITH HAPPINESS
I.B. Rad
Touted on TV by AT&T
a farmer in a remote Asian village
dials his first transpacific call
to a daughter in America
while, huddled round the telephone,
awed friends and relatives
are awash with happiness.
Then, one advertisement later,
a manic guy in a business suit
dances ecstatically about a Honda sedan
emanating pure joy of possession;
while, for marketing's closing ploy,
a ravenous family pigs out
on Pringles potato chips -
all life’s smiles and happiness.
Likewise, in the littered, decaying alley
of an inner city ghetto
a couple of junkies shoot up,
facial tensions dissolving to glazed smiles,
as once again,
the world is awash with happiness.
