I hear laughter
filtered as if through a can,
it finds its way through the crack
at the foot of my door.

It sounds false, somehow.
Sharp and jarring, with each bark
an insult, as if their lightness
is mocking me.

Unintelligible sound;
the release of emotion
undefined through language.
I can’t write it, it just is.

A call to arms;
their laughter a catharsis,
a defiance in the knowledge
of their eventual death.

I can’t match it.
The incapable voice in the choir,
my heart soars, aches at their boundless sound,
but only my ears may sing.