Cheese.

I know that happy girls
Are prettier girls
and smiles are what make you
Light up like Christmas
But I can't help
The soul-depth
The cleansing ritual
Of crying
The way I look at myself
In the mirror
On a low day
Something about that
Makes me know I'm more than smiling
I'm really real...
We got our portraits taken annually
My brother and I
At JCPenney every time
And my mother would parse our hairs just right
And turn me so my beauty mark faced away from the camera
And encourage me not to squint so much and to show my teeth
And every time there was a camera
There was so. much. smiling.
And I learned to smile through
Just about anything
To make things smoother
To stop my father's rage
To appeal to a traffic cop
Or make my boyfriend not so threatening
And I've stopped all that
That false pretentious smiling
And I won't do it now
Not for you
Not for anyone
So the smiles you see from me
They're all real smiles
And I've learned to value honesty
Over pleasing everyone.