Joy finds me in the hallway-
not in the spreadsheets
or board reports,
not in meetings where
I nod too much,
but in laughter.
Not mine.
(The quiet chuckle of middle age
has rules and volume limits.)
Theirs.
High-pitched, uncontainable,
giggles that ricochet off lockers
and sneak under classroom doors,
reaching me.
Today it came from two children,
heads bent,
reading their parts in class
inventing voices for the
characters in their play
They tried to look serious—
eyebrows scrunched
in forced studiousness—
but one snort escaped,
and they lost it.
Wild and breathless.
Glorious.
I turned my back so they couldn’t see me grin.
(I have a reputation, after all.)
But there it was, joy.
Simple, untaught,
with no return on investment
or measurable outcome.
It finds me, still.
Even now.
And I’m grateful.