Guidebooks

Guidebooks to being good
anythings;
they would have
rules and things
listed in order,
in easy-to-learn,
catchy,
seductive prose.

Since when
was it easy
to do anything?
As if words
on a page
could change you
forever -
some say they do
but they fail to mention
that little process
called thought
that happens between
word-reading
and meaning-making,
that little effort
called action
that happens between
meaning-making
and carry-outing.

I know a man
who took his boyfriend out, publicly,
in a homophobic society,
who wrote his own rules
and lived through the stares.
I know a part-Chinese Kiwi
who taught himself Mandarin,
left home, became a teacher
and handed the height of cool
to you without breaking
a single tenet of his faith.
I know a son
who put his life on hold
to care for the sister he loved,
no guidebook involved.
I know someones
who gambled certainty
for a little adventure,
who said 'screw that'
and did their own thing,
and who found the extraordinary
in everyday's ordinary.

In conclusion:
A guidebook to
a happy life
in three easy steps:
1. Learn that it's not easy
2. Ask yourself what 'happy' even means
3. Scrap the idea of getting a guidebook after all
Because
you can write it,
you can read it,
but you sure as hell
need to do a little more
if you're going to live it.