Smile

Spent a lovely day at the Point eating lobster with the in-laws. Tried to take some artsy photos on our walk around the shore, but after all is said and done this is my favorite photo of the day by far. I think there's some poignancy in the juxtaposition of mother/daughter to be sure, but to be honest it's really the smile that gets me.


Your smiling, or the hope, the thought of it,
Makes in my mind such a pause and abrupt ease
As when the highway bridgegates fall,
Balking the heavy traffic, which must sit
On each side massed and staring, while
Deliberately the drawbridge starts to rise:

Then horns are hushed, the oil smoke rarefies,
Above the idling motors one can tell
The packet’s smooth approach, the slip,
Slip of the silken river past the sides,
The ringing of clear bells, the dip
And slow cascading of the paddle wheel.


A Simile For Her Smile, by Richard Wilber