Bitterness
written by: SR Inciardi
It was always for the smile I grieved most
for all of the smiles I’d seen
and for those I‘d planned for among deep crowds
or the midst of a bustling city street
for all those I remember in photographs
and for some I’d forgotten
with no record of the ones that were quickly erased
to never again be found and those smiles among those
who gladly gave one since it’s within
those older spoken words I still search and grieve
this silent language without words
adding to the absence the vast peace lost in a smile
among the vast depths of memory
and where are those smiles now
where is the peace all these years later
void of the smile I cherished and how is this a mystery
to anyone about why my own smile
is laced with sadness when anger paces each instance
with its absence—the way unceasing anger over years
shifts to bitterness.
- Stilled World - October 16, 2025
- Bitterness - July 31, 2025
- New Light - April 11, 2025
