What if laughter nourished us?
What if the aching in your lungs as you gasped for another breath of air filled your
stomach the same way food did?
What if the absence of laughter brought on the same raging tiredness that the
absence of food did?
Would I deny myself the pleasure and the pain
Of bending over and clutching my stomach
Of allowing it to billow through me
Forcing my shoulders to move back and forth
The itching of a smile to splatter across my face?
Or would I measure it
Would I note every chuckle, bite down every smile
Punish every escape of a giggle that quelled the solemnity?
Not more than 400 calories of laughs today. I promise.
And if it were,
Would I spend my time with my head over the toilet
Weeping out the calories in tears?
What if laughter nourished us?
Would we chase the dizzying joy and drink it,
Or would the world dissolve into a subdued tide of
Polite nods and firm handshakes
Each of us sobered by
Gulps of intoxicating exhilaration?
What if laughter nourished us?
What if the aching in your lungs as you gasped for another breath of air filled your
stomach the same way food did.
I would laugh. As loudly as my lips let me.
