He’d smile.

Always.

So much that it became quite irksome,

At times.

It wasn’t like his world was perfect.

It wasn’t like he was infallible.

It was just that

He reveled in his

Imperfection.

Some called him silly,

And some couldn’t stand the sight of

a person with so much of

bliss inside.

But I often wondered why

No one ever saw

How with every lofty smile

The hole in his heart widened.

I wondered why

No one ever saw how

His lower lip always trembled

A tad

Before putting on that

Deceiving façade.

He’d smile.

Always.

He’d taught himself to.

So he smiled

When the fish

In his aquarium died.

So he smiled

When the first

Love of his life

Told him that he wasn’t good enough.

So he smiled

When his best friend

Forsook him

For a richer mate.

So he smiled

When they accused him

Of things he hadn’t done.

So he smiled

When his father

Beat his mother up

For no reason.

So he smiled

When all everybody had for him

Was loathing.

He’d smile.

Always.

It was his camouflage.

What a perfidious misleading thing

His smile was.

I wonder if somebody ever bothered

To gauge his tears.

The tears that he wanted people

To see

Beneath the smile.

And the fact that

He wasn’t the impeccable person

He posed to be.

I wonder if somebody ever cared

To learn that

He wasn’t an angel

Bestowed with all the happiness in the world

He was just a man

Who had mastered the art of

Smiling.

Always.