Don’t Smile

Just outside there in the hall,
pinned up on nearly every wall,
there’s illustrated signs of rules.
The kind you find in infant schools.
Rules and regs beyond belief.
Penalties are etched beneath.

Don’t walk! Don’t run!
Don’t go out in the midday sun.
Don’t talk! Don’t chew!
Don’t do what you want to do.

Don’t laugh! Don’t smile!
Be polite. Walk single file.
Don’t do this or this or that.
Don’t be a jerk, a twerp, a brat.

Don’t wear jeans with worn-out knees.
Don’t say ‘cheers’. Do say ‘please’.
Don’t walk too fast or slow. Don’t shove!
Don’t live!
Don’t give!
Don’t take!
Don’t love.

But that’s out there,
out in the hall.
These days I don’t go there at all.
These days I stay in here. It’s fine.
You see I’ve made my own small sign.

It sits upon my empty shelf
and just says simply ‘Be Yourself.’