Sunflower Smile

She is a bright spark of energy
and hope, purposefully
guiding the eyes of harried
shoppers to the table in the
store's large vestibule where a
transparent collection box sits
awaiting donations to the charity
of aiding those every community
has, the underprivileged in need.
She is suffused with the
enthusiasm of youth, bubbling 
effervescently with hope for the
future. Hair carefully coiffed,
eyes brimming with expectation
her smile as wide and brilliant
as a sun-drenched sunflower field
the temporarily unemployed
twenty-something has turned
her personable skills to community
volunteering, admits it is humbling.
How else to describe the mortifying
sensation of people determined
not to make note of her presence,
curtly pushing past her smile, her
disarming plea-patter? She would
so much rather be working the
fashion industry in Toronto but
this, she wrinkles her neat little
nose in play, prepares her for
dealing with others, making light
of her mission and her efforts,
informing her as they brush
sympathetically by that they
too are in need of assistance.