"a prayer for laughing"

"a prayer for laughing"

after another inspiring weekend by jake kilroy.

oh, the west coast waves,

with lithium on our tongues

and songs in our hearts,

came from the boomboxes

in showrooms and beaches

as we all swam to glory,

through freedom,

swallowing our pride,

gulping down the hardships

we claimed built these islands

of our insides that we let

ourselves be beached upon.

yes, surely, this was the diamond crust

of our upper lip when we whistled

the many thanks of pilgrims and pioneers.

please, truly, allow me this one burial

that looks like a bed, out in the jungle

of community pools and backyard lots,

where i can get dizzy with wine and friends.

merry me - oh, marry me,

she said after an afternoon lounge,

with skin as brown and white

as the cinnamon swirls we had at brunch,

with cigarette smoke spinning in us

like tornados of prayers lost to bad winds.

crucify this sunday that we called the american pastime

and give us baseball and portraits of beautiful meadows

so that we may take in these days like the undeniable

faith that is owed to us by way of broken knees,

scraped and cut and bruised and forsaken

from nights on the wooden floors of bedrooms

we can't stand to return to now.

please,

give us all that we can stand,

so that when we say it's enough,

you may know our limits

and believe we really mean it

when we tell you, the gods, the sky,

the politicians, the holy men,

the artists and the damned

that we can't stop laughing.