Happy is not just a feeling-she's a force. In this lyrical chapbook, Happy is imagined as a woman who moves through the world with fierce tenderness and unshakable presence. She is everywhere at once tending to the strong, cradling the lost, inspiring the creatives, feeding the bakers, and gently nudging those still searching for their spark. She is the warmth in the kitchen and the chill in the morning air, the quiet hum in solitude and the roar of a crowd. Happy lives inside and outside, seen and unseen, hot and cold-yet always vital. This poem is an offering to her, a meditation on joy, care, and the radical act of simply being. Fern Metcalf is a writer and poet based in New York whose work tenderly explores the shape of joy-how it's seen, felt, and carried. In this chapbook, she invites readers to reimagine happiness not just as an emotion, but as a presence that lifts, surrounds, and sometimes flies beside us. In addition to writing, Fern is also a photographer and glass bead artist, weaving light and color into every form she touches. Her creative practice is rooted in wonder, care, and the belief that beauty-like happiness-belongs to everyone. *Author photo Credit: Shani Mitchell
