The laughter of children is a universal language
They don’t need any special skills
No teacher to help them with enunciation
No mother coaching them into socially appropriate behavior

When a child speaks the universal language of laughter
Wounds can be heard healing on the other side of the globe
Sunlight takes on new hues of bright and promise
The rainbows seem, somehow, to sing
And everyone knows the song

I once heard about a child born with only a brainstem
Just enough to allow her to breathe and swallow
But every now and then, she would laugh
In the middle of a family argument
When the tense silence hung in her room like a virus
When her brother was hurting
Imagine
Laughter coming from a brainless child
In a senseless world

So if you see me giggling on an otherwise entirely serious afternoon,
Just know that I’ve digressed
To a simpler time
When laughter was a universal language.

06/13/2006

Posted on 06/13/2006
Copyright © 2024 Alison McKenzie