7. Humor

The Reaper laughs: “Humor is an exploitation of intimacy. The most frequent form of this, in poetry anyway, is irony. But humor in a narrative poem might display more tenderness than irony allows. Humor may also change the pace subtly, allowing the reader to reflect on what has been read and prepare for what is to come.”

There’s nothing funny about inauguration day this year. So let’s have a moment of silence, and pray we get through the next four years with as little damage to the national fabric as possible. Meanwhile I got birds to feed and news to keep ignoring.

And here in the living room at 79 Wistful Vista, we find quatrains 17 & 18 from Jules Chauvin, Ferryman in Exile:

“Wake up, you whiskey-addled devil,” Calvin
heard Jack’s invective-friendly voice as if
a foghorn on the river. “I’ve got news
that’s sure to make you want a double-shot

of something triple-worse than day-old snake
oil you call liquor, make you want to see
quadruple, speak in tongues, and listen up:
they’re building us chawbacons here a bridge.”