joy

o joy
you are such a puzzle
elusive and mysterious

you can't be manufactured
but can be grown
you can't be forced
but can be chosen

you are much more
than just a feeling
more durable and substantial
than mere happiness

you can bear
the presence of sadness
you can endure
the company of pain

but at the same time
you are hard to capture
difficult to tame and
impossible to conjure

you are foreign to me
not a natural part
of my typical
mode of operation

yet you continually invite me
to come and live in your house
to taste your fruit
to see through your eyes

o the mystery