Nervous smile

I wish to smile naturally, 

a quality I admire earnestly, 

something I miss mostly,

when I tried consciously, 

miss creating it perfectly.

Nervous smile...

I wondered the reasons,

what changes the season,

these shifting internal climate,

clashing with social dictum,

activating reflex mechanisms.

It's rarely genuine happiness, 

or signalling our disinterests, 

rather means deeper conflicts,

encountered uncomfortable situations, 

manifesting on our faces.

In social gatherings & interactions, 

we are expected to be polite & warm,

even if feeling shy, or embarrassed, 

we have to gentle, be inconspicuous, 

instinctively using it as buffer.

Then, there are such times,

we process difficult situations, 

in griefs, distress, emotional pain,

experiencing cognitive overload,

we use masks, to sooth or suppress.

Nervous smile...

It's never in isolation, 

but collision of inner emotions, 

of fear, sadness or embarrassment, 

clashing with social obligations, 

we develop the trait...

As brain's defense mechanism!