Laughing Through Lungs

by Dr. Uma Asopa

Ageing lungs grow inelastic.
She is told to restrain her laughter,
not for fear of losing her breath
but propriety.

When she laughs she hears
a crackle of alveolar expansion.
Her lungs under autonomic control
reject volition.

They inflate shamelessly
with each bout of laughter.
For a moment she fears
they could burst like balloons
and shed in the air
their crisp composure.

But her inhibitions act in time.
The lungs recoil to a residual state
avoiding pnuemothorax '
an uncivil imminent disaster.

18-Mar-2007

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