Smiling on Cue
By: Ben Draiman
Children don’t smile on cue.
They screw up their faces in what could pass for a smile,
But it’s clearly an empty gesture.
They don’t smile for the cameras,
They don’t smile for the family or the strangers,
They don’t smile when they’ve been naughty
To mask their obvious guilt
And they don’t smile politely
Moments after being offended.
Oh, but children do smile
They laugh, they play, they sing so we may hear them.
But their smile is theirs alone
They smile when they are happy
They smile when they’re content
They smile without reason
As it sometimes appears to be
And they smile unceasingly
Even at times when they shouldn’t be
And then children grow older.
They learn to do what they’re told.
Even if it’s clearly an empty gesture.
They smile for the cameras
A little less innocently then they used to
They smile for the family and for the strangers
Nearly the way they should be
They smile when they’ve been naughty
To cover up their guilt
And they smile politely
Even when offended
But even still they fail to smile on cue.
They laugh, they play, they sing so we may hear them
But the smile still clings to the moment.
And then one day a smile appears where none used to be.
Prominently displayed broadly across their faces.
Appearing no different from any other.
Their teeth are made perfect, shining white every day.
Brushing them having become infinitely more important than it used to be.
Sometimes coy, sometimes shy, sometimes gay, and sometimes sly.
It has so many variations.
Years of practice has enabled the mastery over the muscles, contorting them just right to achieve the desired effect.
What was once an involuntary emotional response to stimuli has now become a mask to be used at will.
A fortress built to protect the delicate pearl within, to conceal the fragile within.
For no one may see behind the mask
Though they long for the day someone might ask.
The camera flashes, and the smile is effortless, flawless.
The image, immaculate.
The photograph, acceptable even among the harshest of critics.
Woe is the day that children learn to smile on cue.
When the smile that was once theirs alone belongs now to another.
Woe is the day when a smile expresses little more then the image of what the world wishes to see, needs to see.
For a smile remains a smile only as long as it continues to be ours alone.
I like that, Ben. Sounds lyrical. You could write music for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, though. I miss the days that my kids smiled for no other reason than to express their joy in life. Now they're all adults except my youngest, and I'm lucky to get scowls from them. Something that passes as a smile to everyone else, but I know better. They're learning that it's not easy being an adult. Hell, I'm in my forties and I'm still learning that!
Sometimes, I wish for simpler days, when the only decision I had to make was what color crayon to use.
And to smile for no other reason but for the joy of it.
Children will never truly smile for another the way they do on a whim around those they absolutely love (i.e. mothers)/ trust.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you wrote this Ben. It is like a story with a profound message to be heeded, or at least something to ponder. Beautiful and heart felt.
that's cool Ben
ReplyDelete