In the Shadows of Cheerfulness
by Michael Doyle

On the edge of zero 
There's a shadowy history
In land of anti-heroes
Is there any real mystery

That someone wants to strip
The aura of wonderfulness
In a lustful cynical grip
Bringing a darkness to cheerfulness

A style of loving kindness
Extended in times of trouble
But in this age of willful blindness
The pressure is on, only double

Such modest feelings matter too
These moderate upticks in mood
Building lives for the many and the few
Since the Middle Ages, cheerfulness exudes

Surface over substance to peculiar degree
Projected to handily protect and to serve
Cheer isn't what they say that it used to be
It's become a flimsy commodity of modernity

There on life's knife edge is the twist
The falsity of truth half told, even missed
Cannot it all be told with a hint of grace
For dreams to last, accept them at full face

The cynic falsely declaims naive optimism
Disliking as they do anything but pessimism
But let us not trust in happiness too easily
Deception has often slipped by too breezily

(c) August 9, 2022  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved