Seeing C. Smiles is a performance and spoken-word piece originally developed for The Ivory Tower and The Open Worlds (2022), curated by the CUNY PhD Theatre and Performance department practice+research ensemble (Jess Applebaum, Stephen Cedars, Jasmeene Francois, Alyssa Hanley, Ash Marinaccio, Esther Neff, and Philip Wiles).

Rooted in themes of grief, impermanence, and interspecies connection, the original performance centered on an encounter with a beached dolphin on a dusty winter shore. Through a surreal dialogue between the narrator and a figure called Butterfly Man, the piece explores the tension between genetic programming, survival, and the radical intimacy of being present in the "here and now."

In 2026, the piece evolved into "Now Love" for publication in The Writer’s Room Anthology (Portland, OR). In this iteration, the central figure shifts from the dolphin to a threatened monarch butterfly, accompanied by original piano composition by Alexandra Banhazl and visual artwork by Olivia Delgandio.