“happiness epidemic” by david hernandez without any warning, the disease sweeps across the country like a traveling circus. people who were once blue, who slouched from carrying a bag of misery over one shoulder are now clinically cheerful. symptoms include kind gestures, a bouncy stride, a smile bigger than a slice of cantaloupe. you pray that you will be infected, hope a happy germ invades your body and multiplies, spreading merriment to all your major organs like door-to-door christmas carolers until the virus finally reaches your heart: that red house at the end of the block where your deepest wishes reside, where a dog howls behind a gate every time that sorrow pulls his hearse up the driveway. source: hernandez, david. “happiness epidemic.” casa poema. casa poem, n. d. web. 6 june 2011. which poetic technique is illustrated throughout the entire poem “happiness epidemic“? metonymy onomatopoeia conceit allusion