Hmm. I should be asleep.

I don’t remember why we started

laughing except we had all shunned the bed for the floor
and were trying to sleep when it hit. Bubbles
at first, private catches of breath and then tears
rolling down our cheeks in the dark, trying to keep it in.
Soon all of us were unable to hold back sound
or breathe, and none of us could speak. It didn’t stop
just because the jokes had ceased, all we needed now
was the sound of someone else. It carried on,
got louder, harder. It took hours before our stomachs
were incapable of more and the silence of sleep stole in.
None of us remembered even then what it was for
but it was good, and when we woke it was enough
to feel the camaraderie, our pillows still damp with tears.