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Poetry

It’s Just A Joke

by Christine Jefferys

So, the other day I told a joke
Which they said wasn’t woke:
I thought, ‘It’s my right to speak my mind.
Even if it’s not completely kind!’

When does banter go too far?
Do we need a Comedy Czar?
The absurd, the dark, or satire,
If someone laughs, does it matter?
Before we cancel in great amounts,
Is it only intention that counts?

It isn’t just humans; as far as we can tell,
Primates are wired to laugh as well.
Science and philosophy theorise,
Is that always necessary or wise?

Is comedy just a form of recreation;
Or solace in an awful situation?
A way of building connection;
Familial bonds and affection?
An antidote to power and vanity;
An excuse to indulge profanity;
Or a confection of surreal insanity?
A way of diffusing spite and hate?
Is its absence a psychopathic trait?

Therapeutic or subversive,
One thing’s for sure, it’s not coercive.
And though it may well be anti-hierarchic,
Plato was wrong to dismiss jokes as anarchic.
Releasing endorphins, a neurological hit
And a wondrous addition to our human toolkit.

Christine Jefferys is a founder member of the lively Monday Philosophy Club (MPC) in Wilmington, Kent: cejefferysmondayphilosophyclub@gmail.com.