When I Think About Myself
When I think about myself, I almost laugh myself to death, My life has been one great big joke, A dance that's walked, A song that's spoke, I laugh so hard I almost choke, When I think about myself. Sixty years in these folks’ world, The child I works for calls me girl, I say “Yes ma'am” for working's sake. Too proud to bend, Too poor to break, I laugh until my stomach ache, When I think about myself. My folks can make me split my side, I laughed so hard I nearly died, The tales they tell sound just like lying, They grow the fruit, But eat the rind, I laugh until I start to crying, When I think about my folks.
When I Think About Myself - meaning Summary
Resilience Through Laughter
The speaker reflects on a long life with wry, repeated laughter that mixes joy and pain. She frames hardship—work, social position, family stories, and the strain of poverty—as comic, even absurd, using laughter as a means to survive and to keep dignity. The poem balances humor and sorrow, showing how self-mockery and communal stories become tools for resilience and emotional release when confronting life’s contradictions.
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