Laughter From Your Truest Self

(To Gail, whose laughter sets mine loose, with love)

Look at you,
Who entwines today’s happy vision
With a myrrhic history of the wounded child.
O seamless life! O clever evolution!

This is no small migration
That dwarfs the geese, curlews, monarchs.
You laugh for joy
When you know how far you’ve flown.

Your custom fortune cookies
Will play ping pong
With the magical fleet in your mind
To find what tickles you in this marginal world.

O king of hope and hoedowns!
O queen of hearts and hardiness!
O prince of heaven and health!
O princess of ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Let laughter be a pealing bell,
Let laughter climb the daunting height,
Let laughter from your truest self
Include us all in joyful flight.