Finite Happiness

As I watched her giggle,
in that carefree way a child shrills
without hesitance or self-awareness;
with the infectious glee
that flares one's nostrils,
and forces out a laugh
no matter how stoic one's self pride is determined to be,
I realized that I was immortal.

Her laughter triggered the cognizance
that all moments prior to that one did not exist.
That all moments in my future plans did not exist.
And that there,
with the other children,
all amplifying the same insouciant laughter;
their hearty ha's heating the small room,
we were enveloped in a moment of finite happiness.

In that one moment of communal gaiety,
everything outside of it did not exist.
There was no suffering, no sadness.
No regret or doubt.
No rushing or watching the clock
because there is no time outside of our time.
In that one moment we were where we were
because there exists no other place to be.

I became aware that no other moment than the present exists.
Sure, the present is ever-changing
but in its inconsistency the present is always telling me that I'm here.