smile

The front page of the newspaper
reserved usually for the
worst news of the day
accompanied by a tediously ghastly
image of death
takes a break today.
Instead an ad proclaims
in font bold and glossy paper -
A smile is your best friend.
Its free.
(Not the toothpaste though
that apparently guarantees
a shining spectacle)
There is a lot of literature
out there that exalts the smile.

Recently lived experience tells you
it is the answer you have been looking for.
In defiance of years of research.
And a seeming mastery of words.
This is what it has come to.
A simple smile.

Not the one you imagine
on your mind's face
that moves no facial muscle.
This curve has got to be tangible.
All of the world's demands,
that hold your person to ransom,
met by this rather wieldy contrivance.
It doesn't have to mean anything.
Just flash a measured beam
Nothing too drastic
(showing of teeth is permissible
but avoidable post lunch)
and everyone is on their way.
Without the awkwardness of words
you have told them what they want
to hear. you may not know it
yourself (but that's okay)

Nobody asks you why you are smiling.
It is a language unto itself
that delights in appearance
and seeks no further.
Smooth as ice. But warm.
melting on the outside.
The polar ice caps at
the centre of your heart
remain untouched. as they should.
and you can go on
churning in a silence
that admits no camaraderie
save that of its own solitude.

Meanwhile, outside the clinic
the dentist's SOP reads -
"My mission is to spread smiles."
A brief thawing.
An interminable frost.
You smile.
And walk away.