Smile world smile...
Like the bend of a river,
Like a knowing reptile.
Let your smile shield you from pain,
Though an upside down umbrella only gathers rain.
Insipid phrase, stupid homily.
Smile world smile...
What's it got to do with you, or me?
A smile is a shadow on the face,
A smirk to hide some vile disgrace.
It rarely comes alone and genuine.
Always a ragtag emotion attached or
A hidden intention.
So, smile world smile...
Its the motto of our race.
If you don't smile large,
You will often loose your place.
All my formative years,
I scarcely displayed my pearlies,
I was too contrite
Wouldn't smile like those other girlies.
A bad self-fulfilling prophesy,
I blindly accepted my due.
Or so it was as my Mother said,
And so it all came true.
Smile world smile...
If you don't you are a fool.
Smile and pass go, play by all the rules.
Rules, what about blind circumstance?
And a house so stacked against us?
We had no sanctuary, no reassurance...
The bottle was Father's best friend,
And when he didn't show for dinner
There'd be a brawl, a scene in the end.
The smile wasn't working,
Most days my Mother cried.
Remembering the smile of our Counselor,
I knew that she had lied.
Smile world smile...
I am older now and I know--
That a smile is something you must cultivate,
To reap a smile, you must sow.
Now somehow I smile more often,
And for better reasons too.
I give a nod of understanding,
A smile, to the discouraged "few."
And another thing I've noticed,
A smile means nothing unless it matches the eyes.
So, when I'm smiling, world, I'm focused
And I smile by my own choice.
When I smile a real heart smile
It is truly a Rolls Royce.
Long ago Mademoiselle Estelle said,
Elise, your smiles fly off like birds...
They slip down too soon and fast away,
There was truth in all her words.
She accepted me on my own terms,
Not smiling was okay...
As if to say always smiling is absurd,
But I'm glad you smiled at me today.
So smile world smile...
But you don't have to smile back too,
Unless you feel the right tug of your heart
And the smile is part of you.
Meloo/Melissa A. Howells Copyright 2000
Sarcasm is under-rated. Cynicism can be self-preservation. You don't have to agree.
