Another day begets my pains,
if I can call them that,
they’re all the same
as is my aim,
so these friends are my gains.
Today I choose to loose the noose.
Today I choose to smile.
It might stir pain
to raise these cheeks,
to move the mouth
and bare my teeth.
It’s all so old,
I know it well.
I break the curse
to cast a spell.
It isn’t free
for me to smile,
and I choose it all the same
even if
each one
only lasts a little while.