Does A Smile Hide The Real 'YOU'?

Artwork by Gloria Faye Brown Bates... I made a Suncatcher from a coffee-filter and beading wire, painted on it.  The name of this is:  A Suncatcher's Vacation

Does A Smile Hide The Real 'YOU'...

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee


Everyday... we pass people on buses, trains, planes, sidewalks
Back and forwards, in the morning, in the evening
Smiles, frowns, scowls, pain are expressions on the many faces

Smiles disguising monsters, disguising grief, genuine smiles
Of sunshine ... they block another's view from seeing 'deep inside'
The other as they flash their wondrous smile at you

Look at me, what do you see?  Just a big, old smile
Grinning back at you... you don't bother to go past that smile
No need to, that smile says it all ... I'm fine, I hope you are, too

You go your way, I go mine... a smile is all we need to reassure
Ourselves that with the other... everything's all right
No need to look under the surface, the smile is there

Only a very sensitive soul would hesitate, 'knowing deep inside'
Something's not right... there's more there than meets the eye
That smile is only a disguise to cover pain of some kind, or...

A monster hiding behind it like a rock covered by tall grasses
You see only the grass, you trip over the hidden rock
It's too late, the monster's got you!

Let me go!  Let me go!  I will watch for you next time
I won't trip over you, making you want to hurt me
I'll be good, please let me go!

Look at that smile over there, her eyes are darkened by pain
I wonder what her pain is, is it inside... outside?
Her shoes could be covering her pain... pain in her pitiful feet

Her smile with pain, could be disguising the grief in her heart
Lying there beneath the surface, ready to spring out
Any moment, like a jumping jack in a box

Just crank it up, crank it up, be on guard
The top will pop open, spilling the jumping jack out
Smiling, disguising what made it pop out to the surface

Too often, smiles cover something other than happiness
Only the sensitive will see, feel, or even care
We are honored when someone takes a precious moment

Of our time to recognize our smiles aren't what they appear
To speak words of caring, to say to us
I know something's wrong, I just wanted you to see that I 'see'

Only people who care will do such a thing
They are the ones who stand out in our worlds
Whom we care about with our very hearts

I call them a real friend, what do you call them?
Someone nosey, or someone that means the world to you
I thank the ones who take time to 'see' beneath the surface

To care with their hearts, to let me know
It means the world to me, so.. do they
Thank you, Friend... for really seeing 'what my smile hides'... the real 'ME'....