The importance of laughter, humour and comedy.
Last week, I wrote about the necessity for light-heartedness in amongst everyday life, and this week I felt the need to extend that thematic exploration, robbing the title from Dante’s most famous works (sorry, mate). While I doubt this will be remembered 700 years on like its namesake is, hopefully you won’t be rushing to throw it into the inferno.
They say laughter is the best medicine
But too much is considered poison
Although many die laughing
And plenty sent to hell,
Those offended feel
The greatest of ills
A funny world or,
A world where no one was offended?
You can’t have both
Decent or indecent
The King who kills,
His jester is a tyrant
Is comedy a crime?
Or is it divine?
Antidote for the working class
Against the brass
Let me tell you a story
A humourless world is purgatory
It’s just a joke
Don’t take it so serious
Wrongdoings using a mask
But our efforts to reduce offence
Is taking experiencing joy to task
Humour on eggshells isn’t funny
A yearn for light-heartedness
The need for the playful
What else do we do for relief
Against the stressful
Moments of hilarity save us
The droll and the witty
People don’t know what they want
But yet somehow claim they do
However, we’re still a long, long way
From Paradiso
Humans never cease to amuse
Just watch the trigger on a short fuse
The humour hierarchy
The lieutenants of laughter
The constables of comedy
Do we really control what we find hilarious?
It is the uncontrollable laughter
That is the heartiest laugh of all
A sense of humour
A quality characteristic,
One that all desire
But do you risk slipping up?
A mistake will send you,
From the fat to the fire
Comedy is sacred
But is the sacred, comedy?
A greater importance
There may never be
To do away with our ability to laugh
Would be the greatest tragedy
I would rather jump from the fat to the fire but have a bloody good laugh on the way, always have, always will. Great poem Marty. :-)