Smiles

What happened to smiles?
They look so nice on
a person, it's a shame
they've gone into hiding.
Everywhere I look, I see
photos of people who,
in earlier, more-innocent
times, would have been
proudly wearing smiles,
but now grimace and smirk,
as if that's the appropriate
response to the world today,
cynicism, despair, sullenness.
What happened to smiles?
My favorite singers look as
though they're in pain on
their various angst-ridden
album covers. It gets to
making a guy feel down
himself. Is there no one
happy in the world anymore?
What happened to the idea
of helping us, the general
public, feel better about
our sorry lots? What happened
to lifting us up? What happened
to irrepressible mirth? All I
see are frowns; it seems they're
all I know. What happened
to smiles?

(2008)