Recipe For Happiness In Khabarovsky Or Anyplace
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I love the profound simplicity of Ferlinghetti’s “Recipe for Happiness…” He, in very few words, creates a scene, a mood, a contentment that defines the essence of happiness and that resonates in me. He validates MacLeish’s notion that “a poem should not mean but be.” This poem is about “being” at its best and the reading of it is so evocative that it re-creates our own moments of happiness.
Bonnie Salera
English teacher, CUHSD, retired
Recipe For Happiness In Khabarovsky Or Anyplace
One grand boulevard with trees
with one grand café in sun
with strong black coffee in very small cups
One not necessarily very beautiful
man or woman who loves you
One fine day
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from Endless Life: The Selected Poems
Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Blog 