Epitaph

The one who makes you laugh the most

Always has the saddest song.

Thrumming within

Like a frantic caged hummingbird

You think him a jester or a fool,

The one without regard or propriety

Spinning this way and that

Like a wind devil set aflame

But what you'll never know or understand

Is the skill this gift demands

Born not from the leaves of a book

Or even a master class

Instead he learned to laugh

At the little moments between the pain

The slivers of light that broke through

The darkness

The deep breaths after hours 

Of airlessness

The joy after a night of terror 

When the giant would tire of torturing him

What you'll never know

Is how he learned to escape with out moving

Fly without wings 

Run without legs

And sing when his voice was all cried out

You'll never understand how he built a house, a kingdom, and a life 

Out of laughter

It was not just a way of life

It was his life

How he lived

How he survived

How he fought back the wolves and demons 

When they stalked him at night

And reminded him of that dark basement that held so much terror

Or that winding drunken roadway where it almost ended 

Sharing that laugh was his life's reward

To teach you soar without wind

But the song became too sad

And givng laughter was all he had

He'd built such a fortress

That no one could see or get though

To see that all he needed was a "Hang On, It Will be Okay, or I'm Here for You"

And so he is gone.

Having silenced the  sad song in death

That blared so loudly in life.

Here he lies

In quiet repose

Who freed countless others from dark nights, dark basements and drunken roads

The one who makes you laugh the most

Always has the saddest song.

Thrumming within

Like a frantic caged hummingbird

And I'm here because someone opened the cage.

Written by one formerly sad child in memory of a man who taught me how to laugh...Thank you Mr. Robin McLaurin Williams.