Humour in the Face of Adversity

I have been unpacking on and off, and upon repeated reminders from Mommy Dearest I have started clearing a few shelves so I can put the unpacked stuff there. And I found this poem in Dad's handwriting.

A decade ago, Dad was battling cancer. I have still not stopped wondering how his moods were stable, and never changed, chemo or no chemo. He must be superhuman! When they broke the news to me, he had already undergone two sessions of chemotherapy. I Googled about it and every link I looked up said that the treatment will make the patient prone to bad moods and temper tantrums. At the hospital, Grandma detained me for a moment before entering his room and warned me not to be my "usual, insolent self". She need not have worried. I walked in and there he was, smiling at me! He looked ravaged, but was in a good mood. Everyone around him was crumbling under sorrow and he was handling it so gracefully. If there was any inner turmoil, he didn't show. The doctor who checked on him told me my father was a very cheerful person. His wit was intact, absolutely no changes.

When it was time to leave, he handed me a folded sheet of paper.

"This is something I came up with," he said, eyes twinkling. "Show it to your grandmother and uncle too."

It was a poem. Gallows humour, I'd call it. To set the context, Dad was provided with disposable face masks. He had to wear them 24/7, because his immunity had gone for a toss and so he was prone to infection. Dad, I think, hates obeying rules. Especially if they came from oncologists. And he would get annoyed if they kept reminding him to wear the mask. So he wrote a poem for his duty doctor. Here it is:

The Mask

Wear it always, they caution,

You are highly prone to infection,

Ask now, if you've any question;

All agog,I start at once with zeal:

That toilet door doesn't shut, and

The water closet leaks, also,

If I'm highly prone,
Why am I not in a room all alone?

Only then I see I had raised 'thing:

"Oh, bother, a busybody," perhaps they think

But then, they practice what they preach

They too, have their own masks!

The poem still puts me in awe of him. Like it did when I was 14 and read it for the first time. I know now that a little bit of humour will help you and your loved ones through any grim situation.