Trevor Bailey: ‘Her Smile’

Her Smile

A smile is always more than flesh for us, even if it is only flesh.
—Sir Roger Scruton

They claim it’s only muscles in the face:
But Sasha smiles with mouth and eyes,
And apple cheeks quite fit for pies,
To lift my heart by several beats in pace;
To elevate the sun at dawn,
To raise from seed a perfect lawn,
To hoist my spirits to a kinder place;
To ease a flower from the bud,
To pluck the beaten from the blood,
To draw my worship of her charm and grace.
To think one smile can do all this
Means you and I must both dismiss
The claim it’s only muscles in the face.

Trevor Bailey