Always in the middle of a kiss br Came the profane stimulus to cough; br Always from teh pulpit during service br Leaned the devil prompting you to laugh. br br Behind mock-ceremony of your grief br Lurked the burlesque instinct of the ham; br You never altered your amused belief br That life was a mere monumental sham. br br From the comic accident of birth br To the final grotesque joke of death br Your malady of sacrilegious mirth br Spread gay contagion with each clever breath. br br Now you must play the straight man for a term br And tolerate the humor of the worm.