The Punch Line By Hannah Gerber

My daughter, almost three

and already an absurdist has this joke.

Actually she has a ‘million of ‘em’

as the old vaudevillians say.

It’s just hers all have the same punch line.

Ready?

My favorite goes like this.

What happens when you eat a pineapple on the beach?

And the punch line is her screaming

at the top of her lungs,

The Phone Rings!

If she gets a laugh out of you, please understand

you are in trouble,

for then you will need to hear

more startling scenarios in

which The Phone Rings.

What happens when your eating a cookie in the bath tub?

What happens when your yelling and your mommy is yelling too?

What happens when the giraffe is at the Zoo and his name is Noodle-head?

What happens? What happens? What happens?