"Little Smiling Poem" A poem by Jess Coffman

If I smile at you, will you smile back,
Without any strings attached?
Except that two souls saw a moment in time
To empathize, care and relax?

In a city with personal barriers gone,
A stranger, is not a friend unknown.
Surrounded by millions of people today,
I'll still feel starkly alone. 

A woman won't smile, while passing a man,
Without fear that she'll be inviting,
His gifts of empty, unwanted praise,
So her good will go into hiding.

Eyes downcast, headphones in,
We ride the train in a daze. 
Protecting ourselves from each other,
Disengaging from our days.

If I'm lucky, a small child hops on the train,
With endless questions to a weary mother.
Quickly, the dreariness disappears,
And life again is in color.

My neighbor sighs and I softly chuckle,
And smiles can't help but appear.
Two souls share a moment of pure delight,
Relieving all fears of despair. 

I took this picture on Halloween of this tiny kid wearing his 3 Train costume, because I thought it was hilarious and so adorable. The Dad told me that I could take the picture, and I promised that I was only taking it to send to my Mom. I think I actually used the words "this is not going to go online or anything, I just want to send it to my Mom." But now here I am going back on my word. This kid and his Dad were totally strangers to me, so I have absolutely no permission to put this up. But you can't see the kid's face, so I feel like I'm fine. I will however give a big shout out to his Dad who handcrafted this amazing costume.

Anyway, I never thought I would actually use this picture, so I never thought about breaking my promise. But as I was looking for images online first of smiles, then children in strollers, then Mexican babies, I remembered this picture. It really provides a perfect image for this poem. It has all of the elements: strangers, trains, a cute child and my big smile on the other side of the camera.

Smile at strangers today, you never know who really needs it!