Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness

In the fifth year of the Technocracy,
Chairman Bill proclaimed a lofty goal.
Happiness would be captured and made available
To all registered users, for a modest fee.
Happiness was pursued, chased, run to ground
Wherever and whenever it could be found.
Pursued where children play kick the can and
Hide and go seek, as summer evenings grow dark.
Chased where hand mowers snick the
Dew wet grass of Saturday mornings and
Green river sodas are served at
Drug stores on July afternoons.
It was hunted where dish towels come inside
Boxes of laundry detergent and
Candy bars have paper wrappers that
Tear open with a sound you can taste.

The pursuers were relentless,
They left nothing to chance.
They armed themselves with mission statements and lofty goals,
Facts were accumulated,
Sheets were spread, and data was based.
Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar.
Eight bits, sixteen bits, thirty-two, yet more power.
The marshaled powers of two marched in geometric progression
Pursuing happiness,
Cornering happiness,
Dragging happiness kicking and screaming back to their labs,
Their benches, their instruments,
Their school of business methodologies.
Success was imminent came word to Chairman Bill
Accordingly, his net worth rose higher still.
The essence of happiness was digitally distilled and
Replicated in the lab, manufacture a short time away.
Wheels set in motion, marketing campaigns launched,
Focus groups found their focus and
A hundred web sites were spun.
Yet when the boxes were opened,
All was to be undone.

Happiness had escaped the lab one sunny afternoon
As researchers researched and
Admins administrated and
Mid level managers muddled through.
Far away from faxes and monitors, keyboards and mice,
Out of reach of any digital phone,
A three-year-old girl had eaten
Her first ice cream cone.

November, 98