What species of joy
Is spawned by laughter
Encompassing the whole body
Laughter that cannot embarrass
Contagious laughter that forgets the cause
Pursuing the sheer pleasure of it?
Or is the egg joy
And laughter chicken?
Once unleashed does it matter?
No
Of commingled laughter and joy
No wall can keep
One in, the other out
Tears and snorts and all
Suggesting peace might be
Full of energy and noise
If by peace is meant
Profound well being
© 2019 Russell E. Willis
First Appeared in Best Emerging Poets 2019 - Vermont, Z Publications, 2019.