Smirk

Digging through the
everyday preoccupations
that make the world go
round and round,

deep into the cracks of
well-kept memories
of simple, euphoric moments
lodged low in the brain,
in the softer parts of the heart,

brings up from the soil
budding smiles,
grinning like a goof
when there's no one to see;

this, the inadvertent smirk
of sweet bits and fragments of joy,
not lost or dimmed with time,
but buzzing with old anticipation,

like a schoolyard secret,
whispered and treasured
and made sweeter by the keeping.