Earth is laughing so hard
she is holding her sides.
Her laughter has not died.
She holds it inside.
Too often, there is not a smile to be seen.
Comedians and laughter are under attack;
sad attempt to kill laughter, it is true.
But, let me tell you
I awake every day with a smile on my face
and my mind full of plans and laughter as I cope;
planning strategies to keep us all woke
enough to strategize and energize
enough to keep Earth and our freedom alive.
I smile when I find new ways
to resist, persist and overcome
those who strive so hard to make us glum.
Where they see threat, I see possibility.
Where they feel fear, I feel connected community.
When they shout their pain, I shout my glee.
Earth trembles to keep her laughter inside
at the foolish ego-maniacal MAGA leaders’ pride.
Earth continues to teach us her lessons
with a smile on her face from sunrise to sunset.
Giving us the means to keep us alive, and all our needs met.
Balance and connection are what we need
to continue on the path to wealth without greed.
Intersected boundaries are what we need
to continue on the path to true peace.
This is Earth’s greatest gift: her instinctive ability
to make us laugh as we grow in humility,
knowing we cannot berate nor control
Earth’s power to grow, to heal and renew
the damage men and women unintentionally do.
I laugh aloud with Earth today.
Our guffaws and chuckles thrown out wide.
Come laugh with us, then; and hold your heaving sides.
Try to unbend and dry your eyes so you can see.
That laughter has not died, nor ever must.
Constant negativity has nowhere to go
except “dust to dust” buried below,
in the space laughter has made deep within Earth.
And once this doom and gloom comes to an end
the entire world united in mirth
shall laugh once again.
annarino writes 
A SENSE OF HUMOR CAN SAVE THE WORLD
A sense of humor may save us all. One cannot grip a weapon of words or worsewhile laughing. Some of us actually fall down laughing as muscles relax beyond support of our frames, or our frame of mind. It is just too difficult to attack another while laughing, especially if one can laugh at one’s self. The serious-minded sometimes misunderstand such self-effacing laughs. They mistakenly believe one is laughing at them.
I love to laugh. It stops the fingers from reaching for weapons I carry in my mind’s pocket, the sharp words I can wield like a knife. Better I laugh aloud during an argument than pull out such words and attack.
This is one reason the entertainers I most respect are comedians. Court jesters who poke the kings and courts of the world to relieve the tensions in their realms allow peace to reign instead. Keep the world laughing and perhaps war will hold its breath.
My Dad was a comedian. Not as a profession, as a personal trait. His silly grin infected anyone who was within its view. Some of his best work was at funerals. I watched him charm the smiles from mourners, restore their joy and fond memories of the deceased. Quietly he worked the room, or the procession of cars halted on busy paths at the cemetery. Walking form car to car he would stop at each one. In moments the car was shaking and passengers’ shoulders chopping up the view with laughing. As soon as he started the laughter he would move on to the next car. Dad was a master of silliness.
Mom lived life as if it were an Italian opera, full of high drama. Dad was the court jester who brought his audience of children to their feet in glee. Mom learned to make that silly grin, too. We all did. We are a family of grinning fools. We learned to never take life’s difficulties seriously, and to seriously dismiss life’s accomplishments as a humorous surprise.
We were taught to laugh at ourselves. We were taught to admit our human frailty, and view it as a reason for laughter. What a gift from our parents. The gift of not fearing our mistakes, nor fearing to admit them. The ability to sincerely apologize. The ability welcome accountability. The ability to laugh and move on with forgiveness. The ability to openly admit defeat with a smile. The ability to fight our stubborn natures with humor.
I must admit, others often think our wry humorous response to our own mistakes is sarcasm, the lowest form of humor. Sometimes, when our pain is great, the lowest form is all we can muster. I must remind myself to raise the humor up a notch, or two or three. I will never be so good at this as my Dad was. I am too much like Mom and enjoy the Italian opera’s drama, the pull of its force which can mute the humor with tears. Balance is the most I can hope for, until the laughter destroys my balance and I fall laughing at your feet; knowing if I can make you laugh, too, you cannot stomp me into the dust.
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Filed under COMMENTARY, FAMILY STORIES, POLITICS
Tagged as comedians, court jester, humor, jokes, laughter, peace, war