He had spent too long
being terrified of smiles,
seeing only the scimitar curve of the lips,
the threat of bared teeth,
and never daring to meet the eyes.
People smiled a lot in the sunshine, he discovered;
so he stayed in the shade.
When people smile at me
there must be some part of me they want to take, he thought,
there is something about me they long to steal.
To be smiled at, therefore, was not really safe;
he preferred not to take the risk.
And it took a long time
before someone one day got close enough without smiling
to make the right moves, and touch the right spots.
This time he smiled first,
and then she smiled too, and then they took
whatever parts of each other they wanted,
and all
in a sudden blaze of sunlight.
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