We laugh

We laugh

Even as hearts break.

In fox holes

Where fat rats

Fight over rotting flesh

And broken bodies

Are an audience#’

Of the macabre,

Soldiers tell tales,

And when all else fails

They laugh.

People who wait

All night by the phone

For good news

Of a loved one

Far from home,

A whispered word

Barely heard,

An intimate conversation

Against a background noise

Of war

And destruction,

Still find a way

To keep any

Real worry at bay

As they laugh.

On darkened wards,

Where the dying lie

And families cry

In silence

Or share tall stories,

Reminisce

About things

They would never

Have missed,

Share a tear

A hug, a kiss,

A glimpse of the abyss,

And to break a spell

When what they remember

Is hell,

Then

They laugh.