Who Sends Them? Poem by Ruta Mohapatra

If I could, I would
Chain happiness to my wrist
Put her in a locked up cage
And never let her go

But, oh, it has such a wild spirit!
Never stays at one place long
Gets her wings and flies away
To occasionally return

If I could, I would
Shut out sorrow and its friends
Never let them come again
Never sigh and never cry

But, oh, they have such affinity!
To me and my tearful eyes
They never forget to visit again
At the sight of them happiness flies

I forget which one oftener comes
They always seem to come by turns
To make me laugh and make me cry
On these matters, I have little say