Before I talk about the poem I wrote, I will say that I am on the road for the next three days and so my blog may look a little different. I considered taking those three days off, but decided not to. I’ll still be writing my fortune cookie poems. I may be writing them on my phone, and I’ve made a different arrangement for fortunes than the literal cookies.

I was thinking this morning how very difficult this is. More difficult, I think, than any writing exercise I’ve ever given myself. I don’t know what fortune is going to come out of the cookie. I don’t know if it’s something I’ll be able to write a poem about.

I eat most of my fortune cookies in fear. But then I find peace when I post about it.

Enjoy my “Recipe for Happy”, inspired by today’s fortune.

It is better to have beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear. 

Recipe for Happy
By Michelle Garren-Flye

Happy has three ingredients, a simple recipe:
someone to love so you don’t feel lonely
when the nights are dark and long
and you need help feeling strong.

But that’s not all, no don’t think that!
You need enough to eat but not make you fat.
Pass on the fancy, the cakes and ale;
bread, beans and bacon will not fail.

Finally, you just need a little bit of time:
time to live and not be on an uphill climb.
It’s not hard to find, if you look hard enough;
get rid of the waste, the refuse, the fluff.

Of all these, love might be hard to find,
but a cat will do, so never mind.
Cutting calories is nothing new,
and how you spend time is up to you.