If You Could See Laughter
If You Could See Laughter
Hey, it is blue! No, surely red
– the colour of each breath
pumped out by the joy of running,
the jumpstart of a joke.
Tickle-breath is long and spiral.
Pink.
I think.
If you could see laughter
it would look like balloons,
the sort magicians knot in squeaky twists.
Laugh a giraffe.
Guffaw a poodle.
A belly-laugh creates balloons that float.
At the pantomime,
the ceiling of the theatre jostles with colour.
See this baby reaching for the light?
A yellow hiccup of laughter pops out,
floats above us for days.
We could rise off the ground with laughter,
tie strings on it and sail around the world.
Copyright: from If You Could See Laughter (Salt, 2010), © Mandy Coe, 2010, used by permission of the author and Salt Publishing
About If You Could See Laughter
Poets enjoy the 'What if?' question. 'What if the sun could sing?', 'What if you could taste happiness?' This poem's question is, 'If you could see laughter, what would it look like?'