Here is a poem dedicated to the cartoonists on Daily Kos who make me laugh and think…
A Mind Sense
One of the most underrated traits
For survival
Is the sense of humor
And the associated laughter
And the feeling of happiness provoked,
I am glad mammals invented it.
I've seen cats smile with their eyes
And dogs laugh with their tails
Not to mention their hyena cousins
Who laugh out loud.
Dolphins are playful
Monkeys do mischievous tricks
And elephants are well known
For their jokes.
I have never witnessed a snake
Or any other reptile laugh,
But perhaps herpetologists have overheard
Snakes making private jokes
About the size of their rattles
Or who makes the funniest
Slithering sounds.
It is my contention
The real downfall of the dinosaurs
Was unrelenting depression
Over their darkened situation --
One falling rock joke
Might have saved their scaly hides.
Gallows humor helps humans
Get through gross events
There is the rookie cop who grimaces and says,
“What an ugly wound to the face.”
When the Medical Examiner pipes up,
“He was shot in the stomach.”
Doctors, nurses, soldiers, firemen
All appreciate the wit in the room
Or on the team
That lets them escape
For a moment
The dreadful moments.
Perhaps, no group of specific peoples
Have had to fine tune
Their sense of humor
More so than the Jews/Hebrews.
Back in ancient Egyptian times
During the building of the pyramids,
One can almost hear one Hebrew
Say to another,
“Yes, the work is hard, very hard,
“We work non-stop sunrise to sunset,
“On the other hand,
We do get time off
“For the beatings.”
Or a more recent moment,
There was this Jewish man
Who, after being rounded up by the Nazis
Just before dinner
And placed on a train to the camps,
Could not shake the nagging feeling
He had left the oven on...
No matter how bad life is
Individually or for a whole society,
A tiny smile
A bit of laughter
A twist of words
Or a well planned joke,
Does brighten the day
Can break the tension
And create common ground.
If you can laugh with your enemy
Friendship is possible.
So God bless
Comedians and cartoonists,
Let's double their salaries!
Carl Scott Harker ©2021
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My latest book of poetry — poems written between late April to Late October, 2020, can be found on Amazon here: Above Us Only Sky.