In my teens,
my mother used to say,

"Larry is cold, hard"
"Doesn't think about things"
"He doesn't seem to care"
"Larry doesn't take things serious"

Daddy would disagree

"Larry thinks all the time"
"Serious, deep thoughts"

Both of them were right
Both of them were wrong

Both of them were
Both of them were not

As a child,
I saw errors
everywhere.
Many hours...
of many days...
spent in the woods,
crying over the world
that appeared before me.

When I questioned
why things were
as they were...
I was always told,
"That's just the way it is"

As I grew
and sought the reason
behind "That's the way it is"...

the errors disappeared.

Today,
I take the absence of error
very seriously.

Each time
one seems
to appear...
it always,
eventually,
makes me laugh.

Especially,
if I find myself
taking it seriously.

I seriously laugh.

Why do I laugh?

The only explanation
that I can give is...

"That's just the way it is"

***