ALIEN LAUGHTER

"Where I come from," the visitor said,
       "we laugh more than you do.
"It makes a mighty wind, and shakes the crystal trees
       to their foundations."

"Laugh for me," I coaxed, always testing.

And when he did, I clearly saw inside my head
       the crystal trees he spoke of
       shed their stained glass leaves,
       and swirling purple winds
       lift clouds of sparkling dust
       at the excitement.

And yet it was a joyous torrent,
       a sound so full of light and roaring pleasure
       that it hurt,

For I had never heard that sound before,
       and might not hear its like again on Earth.

"Where are  you from?" I asked
       when his reverberations died away.

"From Jupiter," he said, with the tiniest of smiles.
"We're known all over the galaxy for our laughter."