*Passion and Happiness*

Passion is the fire in my chest,

Not loud, but it will not rest.

It wakes me before the morning light,

And holds me steady through the night.

Happiness is not loud laughter,

Not the chase, nor what comes after.

It is the quiet after the flame,

When passion whispers my own name.

Passion says, "Go, become, run."

Happiness says, "Stay, you have won."

One pulls me to the distant sea,

One brings the sea back home to me.

Let passion light the path I take,

Let happiness be the bread I break.

For a life without fire is cold and old,

And fire without home cannot be held.

Passion lit the match,

Happiness kept it burning.

We didn't chase the light —

We became it

I did not know happiness

until passion taught me how to stay.

Not just to want you,

but to laugh with you in the field

with the sun low and the wind in our dress.

Passion is not always soft,

sometimes it is wild paint in the wind,

a dress that will not be still.

Happiness is not always calm,

sometimes it is loud laughter

with your eyes closed.

But when they meet —

passion holds,

happiness lets go,

and for a moment,

you are exactly where you were meant to be.