Happy Life

"Budbill both informs and moves. He is, in short, a delight and a comfort."-Wendell Berry
"[Budbill] can be hilarious, as when he gripes, 'What good is my humility / when I am / stuck / in this obscurity?'"- *Booklist* , starred review
"His terse, epigrammatic lyrics are a lilting mirror of classical Chinese poetry."- *The Wichita Eagle*
David Budbill continues his popular poetic ruminations on life in remote New England-an outward survey of a forested mountain and an introspection of self-reliance, anonymity, and the creative life. Inspired by classical Chinese and Japanese poets, Budbill contemplates the seasons, ambition, his questionable desire for fame and fortune, and simple, focused contentment: "Weed the beans. Pick the peas."
**"Out in the Woods"**
*The only time I'm really free is when I'm out in the woods
cutting firewood, stacking brush, clearing trails.*
*Just the chain saw, the dog and me.
Heave and groan, sweat and ache.*
*Work until I can't stand it anymore.
Take a break.*
*Sit on the needle-strewn ground up against a big pine tree,
drink some water, stare out through the woods, pet the dog.*
*Stretch out on the ground, take a nap,
dog's head on my lap.*
*Ah, this would be the time and place and way
to die.*
**David Budbill** is the author of poems, plays, essays, speeches, and book reviews. He has also served as a commentator on NPR's *All Things Considered*. He lives in the mountains of northern Vermont where he tends his garden and website.