Winner of the Month: Big Smile

By Nora Coombs

I have a big smile. That I do. I have a big smile that masks pain behind the truth. I have a big smile so that I can go on, to make sense of senseless hurt and betrayal.

Each tooth a tiny death, jutting through the gums like a tombstone marking each disappointment. Though they may shine, I’m the one who knows what’s inside and behind, no one else is witness to my anguish in the midnight world of my faux happiness and the walking through a graveyard of hope lost.  

They only want to see what’s on the surface, a fluoride wash left sparkling bright, an anomaly, nothing at all.  When you see me grinning from ear to ear, telling everyone I’m fine, don’t believe me, for it’s not true at all. 

I have a big smile because I don’t have the strength to cry.