Smiling Girl Poem by Souren Mondal
Smiling Girl
And she always greets everyone with a
tender smile,
Flashing her pearly white teeth;
She speaks in a sweet, melodious voice
Everyone thinks she is a happy-go-lucky
girl of seventeen,
with dark, deep eyes and silky smooth
hair and a permanent blush on her cheeks.
But inside she is like a ballerina with a
broken toe, in an opaque glass globe,
where charcoal snow falls and freezes her heart,
with an occasional acid rain that melts her bones.
But she always flashes her tender smile at everyone
And speaks in a voice that sounds like music.
No one knows what's inside her,
What broke her so bad,
that she cannot but always smile...
Wow Souren! You've captured a complex picture here of a young supposedly happy girl. Your depiction of the girl as a ballerina with a broken toe is very realistic as ballerinas do get broken toes dancing on point, and despite the pain, the 'show must go on! ' But then you continue on to extend the nightmare beyond reality when you place the girl in the opaque snow globe with the acid rain and the charcoal snow. Through it all, she smiles. Very haunting and dark!
Thank you Pam.. The poem is based on my own interactions with a number of girls who actually always 'smile' but hide so much behind it.. I know too many like them, who are always doing it unfortunately, and nobody cares, and that is even more pathetic...
Well after reading this poem, it's translation and various comments and poets response I feel this poem is Brilliant! ! ! ! Only a person who has gone through the real situation can express it so aptly. It touched me. Full *****
beautiful girls know what the world sees so poor ones have to hide their inner feelings and show their blushing faces smiles et all this world chases em all intelligent yes but poor ones victims fall after all man is an insane snapster he strikes at only weak and the meek So you but naturally praise her young man your poetry s delightful compose more very few have the acumen that inside you you store read more
An amazing poem......mere bahar shor hi shor tha, aur andar gehri khamoshi.....loved it :)
I almost missed the news that 'Smiling Girl' is 'poem of the day'! Well, my friend, I'm late, but here I am.. :) Indeed, I had often wondered when one of your poems* would be made 'poem of the day'.. since your poetry is REAL POETRY and awakens its readers to the reality of the world.. - Well done, PH! (*there are many that should be such)
Dear Fabrizio. A lot of this poem belongs to you. I remember writing a few weird ones like Poète Maudit and Fragmented Thoughts, poems filled with unnecessary jargons and writien, as I can fully admit, with an intention to 'show off' my 'intellect', and you advised me to write poems as poems should be written, with images and a poetic language. This poem might have come without that advice, but never would it have taken the shape it took. I will take those words of yours that made me a 'real 'poet' to my grave dear friend. You have shaped me, alongside Daniel, Pam, and Kelly, in particular, into a poet I am 😇😇
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4/17/2024 8:51:15 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Whoa! That was well-worth reading. I really like the way you didn't go all sentimental and weepy about it- -by doing it this way, you gave that girl strength. She's been hurt but she has pride- a kind of humble pride- in which she's been savaged but she is not going to savage herself by letting everybody know about it by sackcloth and ashes. That is heroic. But I hope that she has some friends she can talk to otherwise that smile could keep everybody from really knowing her and in that sense she is estranging herself from life. Ah, you have drawn me into this girl's life, Souren. Here I am analyzing her and caring about her- - that is called reaching out and touching your reader. Your imagery and word choice are spot on and I think free verse was the best choice for this piece.
Thank you.. I am sorry that I am replying so late on this comment.. No one actually asked me really about on whom this poem was based on, and your question open up a kind of a Pandora's Box that took a toll on me so to say.. She used to be, how can I put it, my 'sweetheart'.. I was vehemently in love with her for five long years.. It was a complex story. But to keep it simple, she 'sort of' lied about her miseries to me to find an emotional partner in me while she had another one who 'satisfied' her 'other' needs.. I always remained the person who supported her, and tried to make sure that the smile which I felt was forced upon her face was kept alive.. But after doing this for years, I came to know how she had lied to me.. It was a disaster.. I was not even able to smile myself after this experience, and left her.. While doing so, I ruined myself too, because her smile had become my life.. A long year since that has happened, now when I look back at her, and the moments that I have spent in awe of what she was and what she did to me - I no longer feel sure whether she was indeed, the 'smiling girl' as I painted her to be here... Maybe she was something else entirely, maybe she was just as I had projected her here.. I don't know any longer.. But in probabilities, this poem is no longer for her, but many more who go through 'actually' such experiences and turmoils in their lives.. The many more 'smiling girls' who exist out in the world. Thank you for the beautiful comment Susan..