Some Poetry

I feel that the link between laughter and tears is a lot closer than we sometimes realize.  Maybe it's just me.  But I wrote a poem, and it illustrates how crying and laughter intersect in my life. It doesn't have a title yet, but here it is:

I start crying when I take off my wig.  I start crying

when I look in the mirror. I start crying

when a look lingers. I start crying

when I see an old photo. I start crying

when I feel overwhelmed. I start crying

when someone looks deep into my eyes. I start crying

when I am alone. I start crying

for no reason at all. I start crying

when I want to be happy. I start crying

when I just gave you a smile.  I start crying

because if I don’t I’ll laugh. 

I start laughing for no reason at all.  I start laughing

when I am alone.  I start laughing

when I see an old photo.  I start laughing

when a look lingers.  I start laughing

when I feel overwhelmed.  I start laughing

when someone looks deep into my eyes.  I start laughing

when I look in the mirror.  I start laughing

when I want to be happy.  I start laughing

when I take my wig off.  I start laughing

because if I don’t I’ll cry.

But I never start crying when I am about to sing.

I borrowed the format for my poem from a poem that my brother introduced to me by Gwendolyn Brooks! That poem goes like this:

We be real cool. We

skip school. We

lurk late. We

strike straight. We

sing sin.  We

thin gin.  We

jazz June. We 

die soon.

This poem grows on me every day, probably because it's easy to remember, and so clear.