LesleyScoble.com

Humour

I couldn’t see 
why they laughed,
their shoulders shook,
I didn’t get the joke.

Tears ran from their eyes,
giggles spluttered on their lips,
I toyed with my dinner
of fish and chips.

What was so funny?
well, I couldn’t tell,
you know, 
I lost my sense of humour
some time ago.

I’ve looked 
in all sorts of places:
at the theatre,
at the races,
under the bed,
in my handbag,
but it’s gone,
and my wit with it.

If you come across it
anywhere,
wrap with care
and send it home 
at whatever the cost

for without it
I am sad
and
I am lost.


—Lesley Scoble, November 2026

Audio — Humour — jazz blues 🎶

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NOTES

I wrote my poem, Humour, in response to the W3 Poetry Prompt #237, where the brilliant Poet-of-the-Week, D. Avery, prompts us to write about an abstract noun. Please click below to read the guidelines.

Deanna’s prompt: The shape of things unseen

A noun, we are told, is a person, place, or thing. But then there are abstract nouns—words that name intangibles, things you cannot see, touch, hear, smell, or taste. Instead of physical objects, they represent ideas, emotions, feelings, qualities, or states of being.

We’ve been told hope is the thing with feathers and that love is a rose, but maybe you have other ideas. The prompt is to choose an abstract noun and make the abstract concrete by describing what your abstract noun feels, sounds, looks, smells, or tastes like. How does your abstract noun move? Where does it move? What kind of animal is it? What kind of landscape? Go where the prompt leads—write a poem in any format, as long as it does not exceed 24 lines.

I wanted my poem to be funny, but it didn’t turn out that way. It wanted to be sad, with a touch of blue jazz. Only after writing it did I realise I’d written about losing a sense of humour before (Where’s my Sense of Humour, April 2026). It seems to be a recurring theme. Maybe it’s because I know the value of having a laugh!

Next time I’ll write about losing one’s mind. Lol!

My thanks to Deanna Avery for inspiring me to repeat myself. 🤭

My thanks, as always, to David Bogomolny, for encouraging me to repeat myself. 🤭

And my thanks to you, the reader, for being here. 🙏

W3 Prompt #237: Wea’ve Written Weekly