i sit with a girl in french

who says things in a faux southern accent

and braids my hair tightly to my scalp

and i see how she smiles

and adds in a laugh while saying

how her parents will miss her birthday

for the third time

she smiles while talking lightly

of promises they never kept

and i think that she smiles so much

because she is afraid the girl she would see

in the mirror if she didn’t

~her smile is too sad to be real