GOOD GRIEF, Laugh, a Poem

Don’t make me laugh I’ve often said,

I’ll pee my pants or wet my bed.

So I stay still and keep real stiff

As I cross my legs and do not shift.

Yet it creeps forth unwillingly

This joyous sound of laughing glee.

Is laughter worth the price of pee?

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.

Don’t make me laugh I’ve often said

I need my sorrow, pain and dread.

So deep inside I seal up tight

As I grasp each piece with all my might.

But then a whisper of mirth I hear

Bursts through the heartache and the fear.

Against my wishes, I smile and laugh.

Yes, laughter will be my epitaph.

           Cheryl A. Barrett, 11/15/2017

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With her permission, I am serializing here near-final material from nurse Cheryl Barrett's valuable book on transcending grief. I had the pleasure of being her coach and editor through my Write Your Book with Me enterprise. 

Douglas Winslow Cooper, PhD

Perhaps the easiest way to obtain a copy of her book, published by Outskirts Press, is through this Amazon link: 

https://www.amazon.com/Good-Grief-Strategies-Resilience-Transformation/dp/1432765663/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=good+grief+by+barrett&qid=1552787246&s=books&sr=1-1-fkmrnull