In the Shadow of Happiness, Emptiness

What does the boy lack?
Father-mother, brothers-sisters, a complete family,
honest work, money—everything is there!
One who has claimed all the colors of life as his own,
in one form or another, he is essentially happy.
Still—something is missing from the boy!

Compared to what he has, what he lacks would surely be less,
yet—
like sunlight spilling down the white egret's back
from the top of the jackfruit tree at Mondol house,
cascading to earth,
just so the boy's absences, not his possessions,
scatter and fall at the doorway, in the courtyard, across the grounds.

To lack something even when you have everything—is it death?
But unlike others, the boy won't let death settle on his lips and eyes;
instead, with the tender care one shows a beloved's sari-end,
he peels away the dead skin, step by step!
Yes, this is how the boy kills death, seeking at last to reach life.

So,
burning night's corpse in daylight,
the boy extends his finger toward the gleaming sky
where clouds rush away into distance—
he cannot catch them—the boy understands:
everyone wants to touch clouds, that's why clouds are always in such a hurry...!

On some enchanted evening
when the heart grows restless
but the eyelids submit like faithful dogs,
then—perhaps then the clouds will descend as rain to calm the heart—
in that hope the boy returns to life.
He sits with plate and bowl—
...give me at least rice, one soft mouthful of peace-soaked rice!

Was the boy searching for peace, then?
Did the boy lack peace?