Cosmic Laughter
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Cosmic LaughterOn the Great Waking-Up Morning, Hector went out on his porch,Saw Helen, next door, in her yard weeding, Looked over at her with brimming fondness - which surprised him. She straightened up and turned around, - and she was feeling that way, too. He gazed at her for a long, long time. So familiar she was that she seemingly was him. She gazed that way too, and then they could see that the One that they were was the One Without Second. Tears and awe, indeterminate time, then, slowly emerging, they saw everything fresh, beautiful, absurd. They started to laugh. They'd been quarrelsome neighbors, indignant, fuming ~ fantastically funny now, as the joke became clear. Uproarious laughter attracted more neighbors: starting off cautious, cracking a smile, then blowing away in great gusts of glee. A policeman came to quell the disturbance, but, seeing it happening all down the street, felt absurd, so he laughed 'til he cried. Great Waking-Up Morning all over the planet. Everywhere clusters of people were gathering, laughing together as never before, and the sound of it echoed down streets and across valleys. Weeping there was and gnashing of teeth but there in the heart of that terrible grief was the One. The past was a game of such intricate vastness, we couldn't have known. Now we knew. Global eruption of tears and elation. Bosnia writhed with forgiveness and joy. Stockbrokers rolling on trading room floors Evangelists, Senators, Stars, and Professors, tumbling free-fall in the equality of laughter. Spasms of mirth ended serious warfare: whole armies bent over, slapping their knees. Structures unbudged by any revolution crumbled as holders of power cracked up. Really big men, with a lot to lose, lost it in sobs of remorse, and then blessed laughter Days later, subsiding (breaking out here and there) we knew all the walls had come tumbling down: no problem too big; no unresolved issue. With laugh-opened lungs we sighed, took a deep, collective breath, and started to build a new world. Edward Maupin, copyright 1998
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