No Laughing Mask

Are your smiles merely
Distorted grimaces
I ask the laughing
Women in the street
They cling to children
With grubby cheeks
Chins scarred by scabs
With grim, crying faces
I await my little girl,
Sitting on the wall
Outside the primary
And I am thinking
That I have no right
To stand amongst
These vivacious women
For I have
No laughing mask.