Fragment of a Smile: two poems by Marietta Lea B. Rosana

irises, image by Alicja, on Pixabay

A Fragment of a Smile

There’s a tinge of joy

in each fragment of a smile

fresh as the first glow of dawn,

gentle as the soul’s yearning

Like fleeting glances

a smile blooms, bursts into songs,

it is the face of God

in friendship and love

Grace-laden years laced with smiles

shades of laughter and tears,

silhouettes of dreams and hopes

all-time blessings in our lives

A fragment of a smile

nourishes another’s dream,

finds Heaven in a moment,

and lives by the love it has shared.

                       *

In Search of Goodness

Feigned ideals, vainglory

shadows of our fragmented selves

lost glimmers of goodness

Creation weeps over the reign

of greed and hatred

how they shatter our hopes

how they cast crevices in our lives

Peace, its relentless voice

stirs our soul to return to love

calling us to wholeness

attuned to God’s design

In God’s time

mercy shall rise amid

the shambles of war

in a world of discord and grief

In His time goodness blossoms

in shared laughter and tears

in chords of justice

compassion and grace.

Marietta Lea B. Rosana, who hails from Tabaco City, Philippines, is an educator,

a retired judge, and a lawyer engaged in the practice of law since 1987. She gives

legal counseling to poor litigants and teaches law in college after her retirement

from the judiciary. In her poetry, she attempts to harmonize spirituality and law.

Her poems have been published in the Catholic Poetry Room, A Time of Singing,

Agape Review, Academy of the Heart and Mind, The Philippine Journal of Education,

and the Manila Daily Bulletin, which was a national newspaper. It is her belief that

poetry is the soul of a nation and can strengthen one’s faith.

June 2025 issue