The Colour Of A Smile Poem by Maximum Odaro

The Colour of a Smile

It isn't just the curve of lips,
Nor laughter spilling through the day
A smile is painted quietly
In colors words can't quite convey.

It's yellow like the morning sun
That melts the frost of yesterday,
And blue, a calm unspoken hope
That storms will gently drift away.

Sometimes it shines in silver light
When silence says, "I understand."
Or glows in gold, when courage hides
Behind a trembling, offered hand.

It gathers all the hues we miss
When days are dull or skies are grey
A quiet art the heart still keeps
To colour life in its own way.

It matters not your race nor ethnicity
If the body has a face then it must
Accommodate a smile, a perfect recipe to end racism.

So when you smile, know what you give
Not just a look, but something more:
A palette drawn from love and light,
A gift no shadow can ignore,
An unbreakable chain that stitches
The rift that cures racism.

—Maximum—