I found a smile today

I found a smile today. It was tucked between the cracks of the sunburned sidewalk, whispering to me in shining phrases. It's not every day that you find a smile- most are not left out in the sun for just anyone to find. I glanced left and right, inside and out. Quickly I tucked my newfound treasure in the only place its whispers could be heard: the back pocket of my heart. It sat there, mysteriously alone in that small pocket, a pocket torn and re-sewn, faded and patched. How many smiles had I found just like that and then lost just as easily, unintentionally letting them fall to be lost and trampled in the wide, wide world? But not this one. This one I 'll keep. Because I know that somewhere, forward, through, under, and past the deep shadows of these tall buildings, past weather-cracked streets and wandering people, beyond the gleaming storefront windows calling out in bright letters, there she stands, exactly as I have always seen her in my mind. For it is her smile that I hold in the back pocket of my heart. It was she who carefully placed it where only I could find it. I hope that I find her before the sun goes down. All I can do is keep on walking. But when I do find her, when I make it past all of the buildings and shadows and streets and maze of wandering people, I will walk slowly towards her eyes, and place my borrowed smile in her outstretched hand.