Screaming/Laughing by Rickey Rivers Jr.

Screams of excitement often sound like anguish.
I wish this not to be the case.

People cheering at funerals, screaming at parties, pain at the wedding, laughs at the blood.

It happens often

Smile inside.
Scream outwardly.

Children giggle out the womb keeping their parents up at night.

Jokes make hollers and the nightmares make you giggle.

Divorce is a joke.
Then so is a bomb.

The hospital sounds like a church and the morgue is loudest of all.

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Rickey Rivers Jr was born and raised in Alabama. He is a writer and cancer survivor. His work has appeared in Amethyst Review, Bonnie’s Crew, Crepe & Penn (among other publications). (Twitter.com/storiesyoumight) His third mini collection of 3×3 poems is available now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VDH6XG5