Expression

He saw happies everywhere–
the flat smile of a hot dog bun
a bread mouth he’d rather talk to than eat,
the side of his tiny fist as he
moved his thumb like a lower lip
and giggled in the back seat of the car
                                            the happy scrawled on a Costco receipt
                        by the greeter eyeing goods to make sure none were stolen

that’s all it took then to stop his tears
in a world he thought was paying attention
when he was pushed
in a cart out the door.