Have we forgotten how to laugh? I don’t mean the superficial LOL laughter you find on social media, but genuine heartfelt laughter, like a child finding joy at the simplest of delights that cost nothing but means the earth to them. Maybe this little poem will jog our memory about when was the last time we laughed like that, written seven hundred years ago by the Persian poet, Hafiz (1315-1390).

Laughter

Have you ever felt jealous
hearing someone laugh?
And then began to think to yourself –
‘Why am I so caught in the world’s snares?
Why don’t I know now the freedom
in other voices when their spirit
like an arrow, takes flight
above the hour’s concerns?”
Real laughter is a waving,
a beckoning, a message, a calling
to all that says:

Over here, come over here for a minute …
where things look different, and you can
have more fun!

May the images below bring a smile to your face as it does for me.