450 Years of Selective Memory (Smile)

Smile
Show me that the seeds of your discontent
Have not taken root
Display for me
That sign of eternal,
Internal well-being
Smile

Show me the wisdom of my ways
Your soul unfazed by unreasonable demands
Heated irons held to your skin,
Pain and anger held within
With teeth clench of

Show me twenty-eight ways I haven't done wrong
Leap-year me into a season of self-righteousness
With an intoxicating elixir so strong,
Nector of a deaf, dumb, and blind nether-god
Antidote to sodium pentathol and leather wrist straps

Just
Give me some of that ole reassurance
Tell me that it ain't so bad
Sing undisguised work songs to me, white as cotton,
Take me back to
Simple days of rules of order
Proper divisions and simple instructions:

Tote, lift, hump and hew
Soft, humming nights and
Busted mouths oozing red and brown

Smile,
Show me all thirty-two,
Lift your tongue to show me no hidden razor blades,
Show me your molars hiding no encapsulated cyanide
Show me no incisors sharpened for mortal combat
Let me touch your lips and mouth familiarity,
Bring me closer to you, the way it once was
Peel back your lips and bless me with your easy fortune

Open your mouth
And
Smile.

Ken McManus (New York)

Jamie Kennedy "Grim Fairy Tale"

I tell my daughter
If a boy who is never going to be a man
named Peter Pan ever comes to your windowsill
and knocks and asks for your hand
to fly you off to never land

Go

You don’t even have to leave a note
Just float away
because tomorrow land will never be better than today

Life is a grim fairy tale

And she makes me believe
She believes that mermaids swim with her
That dragons compete with airplanes for runways
That unicorns put the holes in Swiss cheese
and we hide from wolves under blankets of wool
And I make believe that I can be here

Forever

That parents can stay together
That every snail you step on has its own separate snail heaven
and the sorrow of Angels makes rainy weather
At night I say don’t be afraid of the dark
because on the other side of the earth
Fairy’s wings are shimmering in the opening dawn light
The sun will always come out tomorrow

And Barbie is always going to have a date

The white rabbit is always going to need a late pass
and every mirror you see
is a looking glass
So hold onto your fantasies like Frodo clutched onto his ring
because the never ending story will end some day

She makes me believe that a kiss
Will wake up any princess
when her mother is a sleeping beauty
I will never wake up to again
That death isn’t the only happy end

So she teaches me to make it all up
Because no matter how many nightmares the boogie man can give you
you can never dream enough
Just turn on the nightlight
Eat every apple every snake offers you
with rosary red lips red as Snow White’s
Dance with every Prince Charming you meet
because Cinderella never knows when it is going to hit midnight

I make believe that I have all the time in the world
for my little girl

Daddy still lives in a world of fantasy
and you’re my ivory key to the secret garden
where we have tea parties with the Mad Hatter
and if you ever fall down a rabbit hole
you don’t have to call home
unless I can follow you down

Just you and me

She makes me make believe that she was a queen since birth
I as her father figure fold her in my arms         
to defend her like arms against mother earth
because life may be a grim fairy tale

But she makes me make believe
to never let reality
tell you what your imagination is worth