Tragicomedy

Tragedy is easy comedy is hard
Everyone knows a broken heart or rumor
Of some great misfortune in one's own backyard
One has to search to find a sense of humor
And then it might be veiled within tragedy
At least this is the way it has been for me
If you can find a laugh then people love you
As they seek relief from their grim day-to-day

Ignore the sword of Damocles above you
Perhaps we can find something funny to say
Laugh and the world laughs at you and cry alone
This is what I do but you have always known

So I will try to say something funny now
Finding the risible in the invective
Of angry wet hens or a flatulent cow
Squawking and farting are still quite effective
Or a pink poodle who knows the difference
Between tragedy and comedy is how
We view the world a matter of perspective
It just depends on where we fall off the fence

Since much of our suffering seems elective
Let comedy be tragedy's recompense

+Steven Curtis Lance



Copyright MMVI

Tragically comic.

"Since much of our suffering seems elective
Let comedy be tragedy's recompense"

This is a beautiful couplet. It reminds me of Bruce Springsteen in that you have a mastery of the punch line. Are you familiar with the song "Brilliant Disguise"? If not you should give it a listen (preferably with the lyrics close at hand). It is one of my favorites, and I suspect you will be a fan~

Thank you so much, my good friend Hey Hey, and thank you as well, Flex, for your great kindness to me about this poem; I am sincerely and humbly grateful.

I work on my poetry every day, striving through daily practice to make progress toward better, more effective and more meaningful sharing through this art which I enjoy so much and which gives me such a feeling of usefulness. I remind myself of my late grandmother crocheting, honestly, always busy in pursuit of a goal which only I can see. When I write a poem with which I am pleased that I have done my very best, then I feel useful, in the old fashioned British sense.

Thank you again, with all my heart.

Respect and solidarity to all,

+Stevie

This poem captured the mood with such immediacy it places the reader right there. Great work.