Then the Laughter Returned

A Poem by Meagan

This is a piece I wrote, among others, about my personal struggle with loss and grief after my brother died. The picture I associated with this poem is of my little girl, the reason the laughter returned....

The laughter ceased. The smiles were sparse at best- superficial and without life.

There was a void. Explainable but without sense or reason- I thought the laughter would never return.

Throughout that first year, the laughter was like the smiles in the beginning- rare and without life. It was like the ruins of an ancient time, lost and being sought after but without the hope of rediscovery.

The smiles came and went- although with a little more depth every passing day- but the laughter stayed silent still.

As more time passed, the art of laughter did so too- surrounded by it but left completely unaffected, as if being spoken to in an unknown tongue.

Then there was a moment- my child's laughter touched my frozen heart- the amnesia that plagued me for so long melted slowly like the snow at the first light of spring- something forgotten escaped my lips, a smile on my face and freedom was felt, just for a moment- it was then the laughter returned.