My mother, always smiling, wanting us all
To be happy, told me, "be happy Henry!"
And she was right: it's better to be happy if you
Can
But my father continued to beat her and me several times a week
While
Raging inside his 6-foot-two frame because he couldn't
Understand what was attacking him from within
My mother, poor fish
Wanting to be happy, beaten two or three times a
Week, telling me to be happy: "Henry, smile!
Why don't you ever smile?"
And then she would smile, to show me how, and it was the
Saddest smile I ever saw
One day the goldfish died, all five of them
They floated on the water, on their sides, their
Eyes still open
The smile was a lie.  The reality of what it covered, and knowing she did it anyway – for his sake – made it the saddest the narrator had seen.
A smile to remember