(South Africa, circa 1980)
The laughter surrounded us
Each member of the audience chronically infected
as the joke plunged on towards its punchline
when the roars would rise even higher
There’d been plenty of laughs already
There were many more to come
Laughter was the order of an evening that followed
an afternoon of fun, fellowship, food
the entertainment to tie it together and send us home satisfied
There we were, the staff of a Bible college
students, senior church members
families, kids, my brother and me - 11 and 13
bewitched by unbridled belly laughs
Church jokes, clean jokes… blessed jokes?
And somewhere beyond the half-lit semi-circle
of this joyous Saturday evening soirée
the only people there with accents
close to the one the joker mockingly aped
were finally settling in for the evening
in the servants’ quarters
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