What becomes of jokes that nobody laughs at?
Do they curl up in embarrassment
and wish they’d never been born?
Wish they could bite the tongue
off the one who’d made them?
Do they dread ending up
inside Christmas crackers
or in politicians’ speeches?
Is a joke that nobody laughs at …
A bellyflop out of water?
A non-slip banana skin?
A custard pie left out in the rain?
An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman
helping a chicken across the road.
Or …
Do jokes that nobody laughs at feel superior?
Think the joke is on us and giggle quietly among themselves?