  Smiles are the words beyond the words That thoughts abandon helplessly. Upon this nervous shop-girl’s face, Where clusters of tiny limpness meet, A frightened spark leaps high and drops Into the hot pause of a banished love. A lustrelessly plump Girl beside her does not know That her face for moments glows Into a helpless solitude. Upon an old man’s face Are gleams of meek embarrassment— The faded presence of some old debt? This woman’s face is scorched By a torch that falls from weary hands And makes her laugh an unheard lie. The face of this tamed sprite Shimmers with an understanding Of the opaque loss she cannot bear, And I see that smiles are sometimes Words beyond the words That thoughts abandon hopefully. |
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