Smiles

a poem by Hema Rangaswamy

Plethora of smiles

a smile of apology
a smile of guilt
a smile reeking of falsity
a smile daring to fight
a smile of awkwardness
a smile of belongingness
a smile to seal relations
a smile to severe ways

your face might have carried
all these and more

some false, some cruel,
some painful,some mirthless,
some for the occasion,
some for the relation,

the only smile I can recall
that brought warmth to me
was,

the smile I had as a baby.