Laugh By Design

Huda is a single mother of three kids. She lost
her husband in the Syrian war.
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

I laugh

Even when life drafts

Me to be sifted like chaff

I laugh

To keep from crying

To keep on trying

I laugh so hard

At myself

My troubles shred

And shrivel

I laugh

At absurd gaffs

It's how I offload

The excess weight

And tell depression, ‘hit the road,

‘I know that game.’

I laugh

Until there's no need to laugh

And the sound of my laughter

Kicks in to unleash

A bray of laughter

If fate puts me on a leash

Or circumstance binds me

With fetters

I belly laugh

Till my belly aches

Life's too short to waste

On a sigh

A sigh's a shortcut

To your time to die

I laugh

Because it's a reward

I've made it an art

A strong fortress forged

Against life's storms

I laugh by design

I laugh to stay alive.

Akpan