The Worst Smile

The worst smile’s the one you can’t forget

Because it’s lodged in your subconscious

And as desperately you try, you can never again achieve it, and it hands regret

To your mouth and jaw, eyes as well

And your eyes will swell until you aren’t as dry a well

The worst smile is the one force upon by someone else

Because the forces surrounding are not much help

You’re stricken with sorrow

And this one person keeps you wanting to see a tomorrow

Although you’ll just wake up to a tomorrow not worth waiting for

The worst is safe to say, imbedded into our every day

Lives are crying and also smiling at the fact that it can’t get much worse

The worst smile is the one you can’t send another man’s way

Because to the rest of us it seems too gay

The worst smile is the one your mother has to make

When you keep asking if grandma will be ok

The worst smile is the farce of friends

The one that takes hearts and makes them writhe and bend

The one that’s being held at both ends by treachery

Deceit, lies, and debauchery

If your smiles carry these in their clutch don’t talk to me

The worst smile is when you’re with your crew

And it’s clear to you

That you’re doing the same thing again and again

They’re walking in a circle and are oblivious to bends

You want to look linier but are afraid that once you’ve walked out they may not let you in

The worst smile is the one that your cousin makes when he’s off to war alone

When you don’t know if he’s coming back to lay at home

The worst smile is the one you make when the letter comes

With his hand writing that he sent over three months ago

He’s gone now, that smile is all you had

Now you collect these smiles because you’re afraid any other disposition will,

Show your weakness, exploit your grief, and expose your woe

And you’ll keep smiling because smiling is the only thing you know

The worst smile is the one that’s broken

The one that can’t be seen

The one with shattered pasts

The one with broken dreams

Smiles are the bane, the root of evil, God take them back!

But…if they’re so awful then what the hell am I smiling at?