As Light As Laughter Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Light me up with your laughter.
Lift me up with your mirth.
Remind me that in a world filled with cynical hypocrites,
There are some souls so at home in their own bodies
They show them to us maskless, fearless, free.

I have been searching for words.
I have been groping for poems.
I have been losing hope.
My faith has been fading.
But your laughter reawakened me.

It is what we choose to see
It is who we choose to be
It is the fences we erect
It is the filters we insert
Between us and the world
That determine how much light gets in.

I will sit in the sun.
I will let everyone see me as I am
Plain-faced, overweight, aging.
And I will smile
I will laugh
I will converse
I will listen
I will live

In this body
In this moment
In this world
As flawed as it seems to me.

And I will recall that sound
As light as laughter
As warm as joy
As real as love

And I will remember not to judge.