Ashamed of being happy?
Ought to be feeling crappy?
So uncool to be chirpy and well?
Perpetuating the day-to-day hell?

In a culture conditioned by depression,
Waiting for your next therapy session,
Waiting for the right man on a mission,
To bear the burden of your confession.

It’s comforting to be down and depressed,
All those internal feelings are repressed,
Just another individual to be assessed,
All problems avoided from being addressed.

Bills need to be paid,
Fear of being afraid,
Black in a darker shade,
Actually fearing not being afraid.

You’re abnormal if you’re all right,
You’re weird if you twist the night,
Everyone singing odes to loneliness,
Perpetually banishing their happiness.

We’re grown too ironic to believe in good,
It is a fact that is rather understood,
That everyone wants to be misunderstood,
Claiming others are hiding under a mask or hood.

It’s less complicated than you think,
And you are not the weakest link,
It’s fine if you get by without a shrink,
It used to be black or white, now blue or pink.

12-step programs and self-help books,
Easy-fix with the help of common crooks,
Motivational posters and inspiring quotes,
Your daily dose of pop-psychology and love boats.

Someone told me he hanged on to his pain,
As his muse, his addiction, but he is so vain,
I have traded the anguish that I held dear,
For a good laugh, some peanuts, and a pint of beer.

Hey, loosen up: Being happy is not a crime,
You won’t be punished and will not do time,
And if it makes me a bad poet and I can’t find my rhyme,
I’ll survive, and take it one beautiful day at a time.

I am not looking to argue or pick a fight,
I have decided to see things under a new light,
I am not ashamed for being all right,
My time has come... So better hang on tight!