SMILE

I've always heard smiles were like masks,
Worn by everyone.
I think I understand now.
Now I understand
Why people laugh where they should have cried.
Why they laughed even when they felt so much pain within them.
Why they smiled with all their hearts, heavy with the aches,
Aches of their lives, their loss, their regrets, even their remorse.
Why they smiled at all times,
Some genuine, others, hm! just for the fun of it.
Fun of it though? They smiled to avoid critics,
avoid rejection, avoid neglect from those meant to see their pains.
See through their facade.
And now I understand why I smile.
And why I'll always smile, laugh, beam;
because I have made my own option.