I wrote my poem, I smile at strangers every day, in response to Sadje’s #Whatdoyousee #290 Photo Prompt Challenge. This challenge invites participants to write something inspired by the image below—a neon lit sign reading, ‘Please smile at strangers’ photographed by Nikki S @ Unsplash
I smile at strangers every day
I smile at strangers every day
but I live in London
and they wonder what is wrong with me
they glare
and walk away
I smile at strangers when I can—
be they boy, girl, woman or man,
but people wonder if I’m okay
why am I smiling like that, they say‽
Smiling at strangers can be weird
when they stare back at you through a beard
(that makes no sense, but I love to rhyme)
I can get a smile back though,
from time to time
It’s a rare thing for a stranger to smile at me—
they just don’t do it in London,
don’t you see?
We’re a miserable lot, all in all,
I think we’ve forgotten how to have a ball!
How to stretch the mouth wide—
cheek to cheek - side to side:)
But here I go, once again
I’m smiling at strangers with a grin:)
“What’s wrong with you mate?
What you doin’?
What you after?”
“All I want ‘mate’ is a smile and some laughter,”
“Go round like that, mate?
you’ll get done in—
you can’t smile like that!—
not in sad London.”
Lesley Scoble, May 2025
THANKS
Thank you, Sadje, for your #WDYS inspirational prompts.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time reading my poem.
LesleyScoble.com 
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