A Fake Smile

[rowens]

Remember when you were a kid
And you were told if you kept making a face
It might stick that way?
That’s her, all right…

With a fake smile,
A smile so constant and bright
You get the wrong idea every time,
And end up looking like a jerk.

No matter how crude and upset you get,
All she ever says is:
“Hi, how are you?!”
“Where have you been?!”
“Hey, stranger, why haven’t you been around to see me lately?”
And everything with that smile, that same vicious smile
That gives you just enough of what you need
To give her anything she wants.

She takes, like a melting snowman in heat;
And gives of herself, all that one could expect
From a well-fed vampire on the rag.
But you’ve come to accept that.

For what she gives, you love her.
And when it’s someone else…
—You want to be the one that drives the stake!
The one stake
That you and her
So often carved together.

And when it’s done;
And you have a chip on your shoulder,
The weight of a chip off but one of her nails,
That drags a part of you to Hell beside her:

You leave a little note on the table by her bed
That reads: “Remember me when you smile!
For you have the most beautiful smile,
And I will always remember you by the light of it.”
And you mean it…
Because, after all, it’s true.