I WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING

I want to write something that would make you laugh
Because if you laugh it will make me laugh
And I’m always better when laughing.

But it’s hard to laugh through the sweat of a fever
When your joints feel like cannonballs
And clear breathing’s a memory,
When your throat is an emery board
And your temples are pounding.

So I won’t make you laugh
In case you make me laugh
Because laughing might make me feel better
And how, I ask you, will I possibly keep getting sympathy if I start feeling better?

Just one more of life’s perplexing problems.