Smile Please -1 Poem by ashok jadhav

(Lights up. A figure faces the audience, lips curved in a practiced smile that never quite reaches the eyes.)
Smile, please.
That's what they say—
as if joy were a switch,
as if grief knew how to wait its turn.
So I smile.
For the camera.
For the room.
For the comfort of everyone
who doesn't want to ask why not?
Do you know how heavy a smile can be?
How it stretches over cracks,
how it hides the tremor in the jaw,
the ache behind the eyes?
"Smile please, " they say,
when the heart is tired,
when hope has called in sick,
when the night refused to end.
This smile—
it is rehearsed.
Polished.
Safe.
A mask stitched from expectations.
Behind it, I am screaming softly.
Behind it, I am learning
how to swallow storms without making a sound.
I smile at pain,
so it won't feel awkward.
I smile at loss,
so it won't linger too long.
I smile because honesty
makes people uncomfortable.
But listen—
even a smile can beg for mercy.
One day,
I want to smile because I mean it,
not because I was asked to perform.
One day,
I want a face that rests,
not acts.
Until then—
here it is.
Smile, please.