Self-Portrait with three alien heads

i.
sometimes a beautiful broad smile
spontaneously floods your face
flashing out glistening soft dents –
your way of showing everyone
looking in all directions
that you're okay.

ii.
other times, it's an obstinate
grin & you try to tame it
with the crimping of your face
into a timid dimple. sadly, your face
only ends up twisted into a wreck
like a fallen sky.

iii.
this is how you force the
smile: a bear trying hard
to be friendly with an invasive Goldilocks,
a man smiling at the excesses & demands
of the world.