I'd Like to Be a Laugh

I know some people and don't know enough about them. They are creatives. They are good. They think and they do. They know a lot about different things and I want to learn from them. I want to buy them coffee or tea as they tell me what they're up to. I want a laugh line on my face dedicated to every single one of them. I want to make them soup. I want to make sandwiches for them on the greatest sourdough I can possibly concoct. I want for them to be comfortable enough to be themselves. I want them to know that they are good. I want to make them laugh, too. I don't need to be a laugh line, but I'd like to be a laugh as I weasel away their time like acorns in my swelling cheeks. I know writers. I know artists. I know scientists. I know social workers. I know heartbroken and grieving people. I know people of all kinds of religious sects. I know people who while away their time caring for others. I know people who try to save the world and people who try to save their families. I know people who try to save themselves. I know a man who knows so many things about chess and I never talk to him. I don't know what I would say to him but I know I'd listen and ask questions. I might even ask to play chess with him even though I'd lose terribly in seconds. I know a woman who makes things with her magical hands and seems to be coming into herself into such a beautiful, glorious way. I love her and her crazy glasses. I love her and her crazy hair. I love her and her crazy family. I love her and her crazy. I know people who can speak yarns about birds. I know people who can speak until the sun sleeps about poetry. I know people who can teach me so much about mental health law. I know people who have saved lives. I know people who have lost lives. I know people who have broken so many personal barriers with their bodies, purposely and not purposely. I know people hurting, healing, and in denial. I know people who are sunshine for others. I know people who are nightmares for some. I know people who can identify birds when they're just silhouette-specks hundreds of yards away. I know people who dedicate their walking and waking-hours to wetlands and conservation. I know more people who know more about plants and insects than they know about themselves. I know people who turn plants into medicine, themselves into wonderful children, words into thoughtful arguments, and sounds into music. I know people who make art with a brush, pen, pencil, with words, with a camera, and with their bodies. I know people who are so hurt and don't realize that I'll listen so deeply, so hard. I know people who have answers to my questions about my plants. I know people who cheer me on. I know a man who isn't my husband who recently told me to never apologize for being myself and I love him even more for it. I know people who are beautiful, so I tell them. I know people who are so important, so I tell them. I know people who I am grateful for, so I tell them. I know people whose hands are hurt and swollen with arthritis but they still pinch pierogis to benefit their local church. I know my mom. I know my dad who makes jokes about his chemo treatments. I know my beloved dog whose lumps are just lipomas, hallelujah. I know my beloved husband who is every form of light my dark mind needs to feel for the light switches in my brain. I turn them on, thanks to him. And I see so much, thanks to him. And there's a lot, thanks to me, thanks to everyone in my life.