Koan of the Cosmic Joke

What is the sound of one quark laughing?
Ask the grinning void,
Where punchlines curve through spacetime,
And humor’s strings are toyed.

If a zen master tells a joke in a forest,
And no one’s there to hear,
Does the universe still chuckle,
As galaxies shed a tear?

The student asked the teacher,
“What is the nature of mirth?”
The master replied with a pratfall,
And the cosmos gave birth.

Is enlightenment a setup,
Or is it the big reveal?
When the Buddha splits his sides,
Do the heavens also peel?

If you meet the Cosmic Jester on the road,
Do you kill the joke or bow?
For in the death of humor,
True wisdom might allow.

Can one laugh without attachment,
To either joy or pain?
When the punchline is nirvana,
Does the set-up still remain?

If all the world’s a stage,
And we merely players be,
Is the laugh track of existence,
The sound of you and me?

In the space between two giggles,
Lies eternity’s grin,
Where the wise find liberation,
And the fool’s journey begins.

What happens when the Tao,
Walks into a bar?
Does it order one of everything,
Or nothing from afar?

If you can catch the laughter,
That echoes ‘fore the jest,
You’ll find the Cosmic Joker,
In your own chest.

So ponder well this koan,
Of mirth and mystery,
For in the Cosmic Joke’s zen riddle,
Lies all of history.

The answer’s in the question,
The question in the laugh,
For those who seek true wisdom,
Must walk humor’s path.

So let your mind spin wildly,
Through paradox and jest,
For in the Koan of the Cosmic Joke,
Enlightenment is blessed.