Paradise

I do not know what or where paradise is.
I just know I’ve always sought it
and it’s never been where I thought
it was going to be when I settled
here, there, everywhere. 

If I were there, I’d certainly stay there.
Rain, fire, earthquake, war.
I would own or rent or squat,
be loose and unhoused on the streets,
I would never leave.

Unless of course the place itself
shook me off like a flea from its coat…
I’d find another paradise then, or something 
close to it.  Declare it the same, name it
New Paradise.  Lie to myself

that I was ever certain of just what it was
until I’d found and lost it.  Every quest
requires a rediscovery; you’ve got to lose one
to win one, etc.  I’ve never known paradise
but I’m sure that this is how it is.