Humor is only denigrated by those who lack it. Anyone who tries writing it quickly learns that there are fewer things harder than managing to be funny. I think to a lot of people "light verse" denotes verse that is not serious, but most good light verse I know manages to make many serious points and make them more effectively than serious poetry often does. My favorite light verse is often very dark indeed, addressing losses with a bravado that can be heartbreaking or satirizing injustice intelligently and fearlessly. Even when light verse does nothing but make me laugh, it is doing something that I welcome and long for. I will admit that humor can be a kind of self-protective armor that some writers use to deflect self-questioning. But in the hands of the best writers it is a scalpel.
Susan
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