HAIKU

TANKA

HAIBUN

I laughed at the clown’s antics in the circus at one stage. Today, it makes me cry to think about the difficult lives they lead off stage. In childhood, I laughed when a friend slipped and fell. The thought of all slips in life, and the pain they caused, brings tears to my eyes, now.

A child enters the world howling, and everybody smiles. I see the peaceful smile on the face of the departed soul, and watch the kith and kin sob.

How the failure of one causes others to rejoice! Would there be real joy, without being juxtaposed with misery? Equanimity is a goal to die for, so that we truly live.

Life is a journey

between laughter and tears

but one never knows

which is the starting point

and if one can choose the end?

Creativity inspired by Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge -28. Try it out at

https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/04/04/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-28-laugh-cry/