SAD SMILES




The smile of the weary labourer
Whose toil is not feeding him
The smile of the white-collared worker
Whose pay does not take him home
The smile of the limping old soldier
Battle wearied his body writhes in hunger
The smile of the man of yore
His dream of heydays now but folklore





The smiles of the child-beggar
Nurtured by neither father nor mother
The smiles etched to tired faces
Those of the homeless and wanderer
The smiles of the forgotten races
Cut off from civilization and its aura
The smiles of the stricken populaces
Ailing from her very own leader





The smile of the schooled job-hunting man
Standing with shivers in the rain
Zoom zoom goes the pot-bellied politician
Exotic fleet following in his train
Splash splash the squalid taint lashes on
Through the glass he sees them grin
His smiles all soggy and his gaze forlorn
He wonders when the sun will shine on him





Smiles mangled by many cheerless tears
Smiles battered by several spasmodic throes
The fruit of man’s unkindness to man
Smiles that plaster our shredded doleful yarn
Smiles that veneer my people’s reality
Smiles from hearts where joy is rarity
Smiles yes smiles but pain there lies
My people smile sad smiles



ABOUT ME:

I love poetry but I don't like to call myself a poet. I simply try to perceive and appreciate the world around me as best as I can.
Reach me through emmabamibor@gmail.com.