Hunting Joy

I hunted joy today,
tracked it along winding trails
that twisted through the minutes.
I peeked inside the yellow daffodils
that spilled out of the white pitcher,
but joy had passed on by.
I peered through dark clouds
and fluttered through the pages of favorite books,
but joy had come and gone again.
I sipped a cup of tea
and read the leaves left behind,
but joy left no message.

At last I stopped my search
and offered a glass of cool water
to a thirsty child
and in that moment
found joy
smiling back at me.

After watching and reading the April poetry challenge by Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Readingfor the past several years, I decided to write a poem a day this month. Mary Lee is hosting PO-EMotion, with a different emotion for each day of the month. Today’s focus is JOY. For even more poetry fun throughout April, check out the roundup of poetry celebrations and projects at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.