Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LOOKING FOR A HAPPY SMILE, by JESSE SILL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOOKING FOR A HAPPY SMILE, by                    
First Line: Day after day / I while away
Last Line: Which helps to more irritate.
Subject(s): Happiness; Smiles; Joy; Delight


Day after day
I while away
Watching the world go by;
Out on the street
The people I meet
Are much the same as I.

They, too, watch me
As they try to see
What makes me look so queer;
My face I know
Not much for show
And they wonder just why I am here,

And I wonder at them
But never condemn
The fastidious way they go;
But I wonder if they
Are as happy today
As they were thirty years ago.
And I watch for hours
On these streets of ours
Just to find one happy face.
A grin I once saw
Twisted the jaw
But as a smile it was a disgrace.

Sometimes a "How-de-doo"
Thrills me through and through,
And I wonder if heaven is near;
But that is soon gone
For that same someone
Has a way that most people fear.

And the people go by
Much the same as I,
Trying to escape the snares of fate;
They try to be gay
But don't feel that way
Which helps to more irritate.





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