Laughter Matters<\/p>\n
and he did that a lot,
\nwith chuckles to touch the edge
\nof reality, keep sanity in place,
\nand wolves at bay,
\neven when he sensed
\nthe supreme ice-cream stand
\nhad been emptied, then abandoned;
\neven then–
\nand when the hungry maggots chewed
\neach still green apple,
\nbut not when the city fenced
\noff the blackberries–
\nthen his eyes changed from Nordic
\nto glacier blue
\nas thoughts recalled
\nthe way it had been in his youth
\nwith stretching space
\nfor legs to roam to explore,
\nwith no granite stones
\nor thin-skinny houses
\nto block good views,
\nand clean air to suck deeply into
\nlungs, fish swimming lazily in the
\nlake, gravenstein apples to take
\naway the hollow ache when times
\nwere lean and tough.
\nno stones to imagine then,
\npale pink and paler gray,
\nsharp-cornered and bald
\nsparkling in the sunlight caught
\nwithin the framework
\nof a darkened alley
\nfew want to imagine, talk about,
\nand certainly refuse to name<\/p>\n
–Joyce Metzger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Laughter Matters and he did that a lot, with chuckles to touch the edge of reality, keep sanity in place, and wolves at bay, even when he sensed the supreme ice-cream stand had been emptied, then abandoned; even then– and … Continue reading