You Who Gift Me a Smile

For my friend, who

sent me a letter in the mail even though

we see each other every day, just

so she could gift me a card and

a lovely little poem;

For my other friend, who

sang with me on the bus

to a math competition, who

wrote a poem to convince me

I'm still myself;

For the lunch monitor, who

gives me and just about anyone

a smile and

who gave my friend a hug

when she got her license, beaming and

letting it reach her eyes;

For the boy who texts me almost

every night, just

to ask me about my day, who

put a song on our playlist 

About the stars, and

even though I can't tell what they're screaming

in the lyrics, I

still love it;

For all of you who

say hello to people and

smile as you say it, and

let your heart flood with

little kindnesses and the flowers bursting

from the pages of your soul:

Thank you.