American Happiness: New Poems

American Happiness is an eclectic collection of poems that addresses everything from the death of parents to racial tension to the encroachment of coyotes into urban spaces. The title is taken from a poem in the last section of the book which considers the kinder, gentler exploits of Sheriff Andy and Deputy Barney during a time when Southern law enforcement officers were reputedly neither kind nor gentle. As the speaker points out, "Barney had one bullet/and no need for rope. / The only burning he did was for his Thelma Lou," a fact that allowed an audience in the midst of racial violence to laugh and "forget/ that outside our own windows/other sheriffs with loaded guns, snarling dogs, and ready hoses/made quick work of a world on fire." Like the poem, the collection explores how happiness in these United States is often dependent upon the stories we create for ourselves while we ignore the realities outside our own windows.