Poetry Corner: How Laughter Saves Us

POETRY CORNER

– 6/06/18

Detail from Toti O’Brien artwork.

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

Since last week we searched out our open mind, finding some clarity, I naturally began to realize we had to follow this with recognizing how laughter saves us, in so many situations. By coincidence, Peter Mugglebee, who was featured in our Open Minded Poetry corner last week, suggested I read a hilarious book which I think you will enjoy, called Sum by neoroscientist David Eagleman, author of the PBS series The Brain. I’ve only started it but can see already how the wildly imaginative ‘afterlives’ he depicts give insight and lightness to the present. At a poetry workshop I attended recently I had to list what I considered my most precious things. My most favorite ‘the ability to clear my mind’ was burned up by someone’s random choice. I will never forget my first reaction: ‘At least I still have my sense of humor!’

So here we go!​

~ Kathabela​​

Kris Kondo

Haiga by Kris Kondo.

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Steve Hodge

august heat
an ice cube tray
on the Kama Sutra

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Lori A Minor

rescuing me
from the storm
his laughter

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N.E. Taylor

i am not allowed
to build a bookcase
in the bathtub
look under the bed
julia child and asimov

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Sandi Pray

“Between the laughter,” haiga by Sandi Pray.

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Genie Nakano

do you
remember us
laughing in the hospital
you were down
I tickled you up

I took
the train to San Diego
to get certified
in Laughter Yoga
I cried all the way home

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Michael Rehling

zero sleep
tonight the stars
just wont shut up

broken meditation………
my self centered buddha
has a hearty laugh

crazy talk

i think we should run away and join the circus. you can sell tiparillos and i will pound in tent stakes. i can write my novel and you can assemble your poems into a book. posting selfies with toothy smiles will be kool too.

a billion photons a second flow through me sunspots

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Upside down {Photo – om Clausen).

Gerry Jacobson

walking out
of Sydney airport
I’ve lost
all my baggage
and stand naked in the rain

down here
in the antipodes
it’s the hot winds
of high summer …
we’re standing on our heads

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Carolyn Winkler

my boyfriend
wears a fur coat
and wags his tail

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Trout Lake, Washington (Photo – Carolyn Winkler).

Steve Hodge lives in White Lake, Michigan. ​He’s the editor of Prune Juice, a senryu, kyoka and Haiga Journal. His surprising image is perfect for our laughter. Lori A Minor is the artist editor of the new e-zine fenkumag​ and co-editor with Chase Gagnon of Scryptic Magazine. she says: “When I’m not taking photos all over Michigan with​ ​Chase, I’m probably in bed combating my depression and using my pen and paper as therapy. Through the good and bad days, Chase is always there to remind me just how beautiful I am and that life is always worth living​​.”​ N.E. Taylor lives near LAX, and she really did suggest replacing the bathtub with bookshelves.​ ​Genie Nak​a​no teaches gentle yoga, meditation and dances in Los Angele​s, California. Her wit and lyricism are blended in her tanka, kyoka, and haibun in powerful and amusing ways. Michael Rehling ​is a vegan poet who​ live​s​ simply,​ cultivating “Beginners’ Mind​” in the North Woods of Michigan, just north of the 45th parallel. He calls himself a “Failed Editor” of the online senryu oriented journal “Failed Haiku” and is loved by the many who appreciate his supportive humble attitude. ​Gerry Jacobson​ lives in Canberra, Australia. He’s a poet, dancer and devoted grandfather. His upside-down humor, creativity, and generous spirit made me invite him a couple years ago as co-administrator of Tanka Poets on Site, our Facebook group, where over a thousand members can be inspired by his weekly “Gerrymuse” occasional Tanka Prose prompts. ​Carolyn Winkler lives in Portland, Oregon. She says: “Life is full of different circumstances, some of them we create ourselves. I have been fortunate to have had a wonderful boy corgi named Carson in my life. He has passed now but I still laugh and think fondly of him when I read this ku.” Recently she traveled to Japan and on her return observed and photographed many unusual sights in Trout Lake, Washington, including a Buddha wearing a lei. Poet and artist Kris Kondo (haiga) tells us: “The temple nearby where i live in the mountain village of Kiyokawa west of Tokyo is full of statues of arhats, Buddha’s disciples, that always make me smile, but one day I found the elegant Kwan Yin taking a nap​”​.​ ​Sandi Pray ​(haiga) says: ​”​On that kind of a day when everything seems to be going wrong..taking a breather outside helps me. I can always find someone or something to raise my spirits to laughter.”

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♣ We welcome and encourage your response especially in the form of short poems. You may reply by leaving a comment below.