Flashing thumping, harmonic thunder 

My mind split between nervousness and wonder

The floor erupts in a joyous motion

An unrehearsed synchronized commotion

The music erges my feet to dance 

My ears filled with a sonic romance 

And though my mind is filled with doubt 

The rhythm in my bones cries out 

The Laughless Heron    

by Augustus

The kookaburra laughed again, so loud and obnoxious that it hurt the ears of the Heron. The Heron was very annoyed by the Kookaburra but also pretty envious, for the Heron had never Known laughter of his own.

The Heron had asked his mother to tell him jokes, but being the wise old heron she is, she only knew riddles. She told her son that the Penguin might know some jokes because he looks kinda funny. Turns out Mama heron isn’t as wise as we thought, the penguin only knew about fish and ice. Next the Heron asked the Lumberjack. The Lumberjack told jokes about lumber that the Woodpecker seemed to enjoy greatly. The Heron on the other hand Knew nothing of lumber, and did not get these jokes. The Heron then heard the Kookaburra from a distance and assumed that he must be funny. And that leaves us here, the Heron listening to the incredibly unfunny Kookaburra laugh at his own jokes all night, giving everyone else a headache.

The Kookaburra told jokes about trees that made little sense, he told jokes of Australia that no one understood, and he said some pretty violent things about mice that may have not been jokes, but he laughed anyway. After a long night of laughing for the Kookaburra and agony for the other birds, the Kookaburra finally got up to go home saying as he left, “all this laughing has given me quite a headache”, and he flew off. The Heron at hearing this gave a slight smile and a quick exhale out his nose holes, a laugh. The Heron went home that night with a satisfyingly full life, His mother however was dissatisfied because she thought he had finally left for good.

Light pollution

Looking out at the horizon

In the deep dark of the night

I can see no stars in the sky

Only the stars that shine from the windows of the buildings

That grow and reach up to the place they once were