It’s always time for good poetry, and it’s frequently time for a good laugh. I’ve long found Ron Koertge a reliable source of both! As Exhibit A, I offer this poem.

Bad News About My Vocation
by Ron Koertge

I remember how the upper crust in my hometown
pronounced it—care-a-mel. Which is correct, I guess,
but to everybody else it was carmel.

Which led to the misconception about the order
of Carmelites …

(Excerpted from The Ogre’s Wife. Read the full poem here.)

I don’t know what I’d do without poetry and laughter. Poetry often gives us glimpses into mysteries that make us more human. Laughter keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously, a saving grace.

As Chesterton said, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” So meet Ron Koertge and the “Carmelites,” flap your wings and do some loop-de-loops!