Things That Seemed So Funny at the Time

and so important to remember how funny
—and so important to remember
how free we were to laugh:

The gold stroke of a Father’s
sun-worn hair
and easy white flash
of his teeth.
His plaid shirt.
His forearms all tanned.

The back of one of the children’s hands
wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
Another one’s playful massaging
of the upturned strained edges
of his smile.

A mother’s muscles tensing
and holding pre-release
—and releasing in spasms
of her soft belly
resting forward against the table,
jingling the glasses and plates

The high and rounded notes both
of all their various laughing,
distant, blended,
muffled and aged
into a single
luring music.

-M.