SLAM!

I will quit smoking when…

open mouth eating eggs scrambled with ham
unscrambles her brain stem enough to read,
the line across the drawing of a meal
means the bus is not the place to eat,
especially when air-conditioning seems
but a lost memory in ninety degree heat;

he with the brand name fried chicken meal
tosses the remains before boarding to sleep,
and not on the floor where the grease congeals
and the bones rattle out to roost under seats,
pungent their aroma in any degree heat;

the paper bag with liquid concealed
stays wrapped and tucked and not revealed
by belch and grunt and mysterious speech
regaling passengers’ unwilling ears
forty minutes and still not asleep.

I will quit smoking when…

I no longer need to anesthetize
my nose against the morning’s ride,
else I might add to the cacophony
with an offering at least as, if not more, vile.

2006 manga_kate



{Special Thanks to kelly1202 for my Gossamer Angel Wings


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