It is really hard to write funny. It’s even harder to write funny with substance and pathos. But in this class, we’ll look at several poems that succeed at being funny in different ways – some by unlikely juxtapositions, some by satire, some by the ways they create, fulfill, and subvert reader’s expectations, some by story, some by fresh use of formal strategies, some by the sheer giddiness of language. And we’ll attempt several different strategies for humor, keeping in mind that humor is a way we manage the dark, the scary, the politically infurating, the personally enraging, the complicated, and the absurd realities of life. I can’t promise you’ll always be funny after this, but I can promise it’ll be the most fun homework you’ve ever done.