Lost smiles

She still wears it —

but without its essence.

It lingers, yet feels absent,

defying its own presence..

Her smile was her signature,

a part of her nature…

No, it hasn’t gone anywhere — it still is;

only the meaning in it is now amiss.

She doesn’t smile now

with any solace in her heart.

It is rather a reflex —

just another way

to somehow sustain this art,

the art this art  to create an illusion of normalcy,

so that no one can see the chaos within her sea.

Amita Joshi