Laugh Easy

Laugh Easy

Dedicated to Dad.

~

Despite the fact that I inherited his sadness,

my father always laughed easy -

I think this too, was a gift to me:

an offer of salve for the burn in my chest.

~

In the heat of it all, my mind sometimes melts

down my spine, and settles, heavy in my stomach.

But I hear the levity in his laughter,

and even though I am flooding, I can smile -

the way night is broken apart when owls hoot,

or wolves howl, or the air flickers from the cage

of my mouth like hot air balloons.

~

We both live with this phantom limb of feeling,

but my father taught me that nothing hugs you

back into yourself like a sense of humor.

My father taught me that you could laugh

until tears build dams in your eyes,

until sound thunders out your thoughts,

or

until laughing becomes easy again.