Keep the Bamboo smile

Your Smile
It is the same smile as any other child’s,
A smile without evidence of existence.
You are invisible,
In the ancient land
A land where spoken words clash with hidden intentions,
Despised and feared,
As if you might steal their bread and rice.

Mother, I miss you dearly.
The scorching fire of war
Separates us with the ridges of mountains.
I miss you with all my heart,
From the place where I was taken from your embrace.

Your smile,
No one can take it away from you.
Even if your dreams are shattered,
Your spirit remains filled with love.

And who,
Who draws the lines of right and wrong,
black and white, contemptible and pure?
Is it not them?
Those who claim to be noble people,
Feigning moral superiority while scorning your heart.

One day, when you grow up,
May I ask for one thing?
No matter how cruel the world becomes,
Please keep that smile.
The smile that turns night into day,
That transforms this poem into truth from dreams,
That changes hatred into a symphony of heavenly.

Do not let anyone,
No matter how they curse or defame,
With lies and deceit,
Take away who you are.
You are still you,
A young woman,
A beam of sunlight in March,
An essence that cannot be altered.

Hold on to that smile,
And show it to the world.
Do not worry —
No one can take it from you.
And let this poem
Be your voice,
The proof of your existence.
That you are here,
With dignity and rights,
Equal to everyone else.
No one has the right
To point at you and say you are not real.

I will remember that smile
And preserve it in this poem,
To tell them
That your voice matters.

It is not you who chooses the smile —
The smile chooses you.
Just like sorrow,
Birth,
Race,
And separation.
Who would wish for such things?
But once they happen,
What you do defines your worth,
that you deserve that smile.

A smile born of tears,
A smile of separation,
A smile of hope,
A smile of life,
A smile without division.

Today,
My sky is filled with white clouds,
While your sky carries drifting smoke.
Yet we share the same sky.

And I may ask that this sky,
Record the existence of your smile,
As eternal and unchanging as the universe itself.

The photo and content from Bamboo School, Sai Yok,
Kanchanaburi, Thailand, where love and smiles are born.