Smiling Is Infectious

Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin.

When he smiled I realized
I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
then I realized its worth.

A single smile, just like mine
could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,
don’t leave it undetected.

Let’s start an epidemic quick,
and get the world infected!

Jez Alborough ? see Note below  (1959 –

It is a fact that smiling appears contagious – and of more importance makes us happier … well we need something to counteract the emotional response to COVID-19!

… smiling is contagious. And according to the ‘facial feedback hypothesis’, which postulates that facial movement can affect emotional experience, smiling can actually make us feel happier – (Reference – The Contagious Power of Thinking: How Your Thoughts Can Influence the World by David Hamilton)

Note – In some Internet Sites this poem is identified incorrectly as one of Spike Milligan’s poems. I have no record of Spike Milligan and this work (Reference – The Compulsive Spike Milligan edited by Norma Farnes). Admittedly it is the sort of thing Spike Milligan  would write. But from the following comment on the Internet this poem appears to be the work of Jez Alborough who posted …

… the author is not unknown, it is by jez alborough. I am the author. It was publihed in my collection of poetry back in 91 called shake before opening. It has also been republished in a few poetry collections, aleays credited to me. I have mo idea why other people have beed credited with it, i’d appreciate itif you correct this. Thanks, jez

Jez was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1959. He went to art school in Norwich and then set about entering the competitive world of children’s books. Jez has now written and illustrated over thirty picture books for children, he was runner up of the 1985 Mother Goose Award with his first book Bare Bear. Jez lives in London with his Danish wife.

And of course finding happiness is up to you