On Sideways Smile.

Sideways Smile.

He had a funny, sideways smile,

like he was trying to tell me something.
maybe it was that he had nothing to say,

at least nothing i hadn't heard before.

it's not like I had been around the block or anything,

but i could smell bullshit,
sometimes from almost a whole foot off.
and maybe, just maybe, he could smell that i could smell.

that's why he was a little lighter.
that's why every sentence was weaseled:
"Some people say..."
"I heard somewhere..."
"A lot of people think..."

Maybe it's those little nose hairs that

won't let him say something and mean it.
or maybe it's those little ear hairs that

won't let him hear himself
and how ridiculous it is to never actually say anything,

even though there's
so much talking.
so much talking.
so much jerking off, going on and on about ourselves.

it's your little smile that gives you all that power.
some people believe in shit like that,

maybe because if they called your bluff
they'd have to call theirs.
it's an uneasy truce; it's a delicate circle-jerk.