Cigarettes and Milk

There are white lies, and then there are lies you tell because you’re afraid of the consequence of the truth. I said I’d come back, but I lied.

Parting words, parting lips,
But swear this is the home--
The only skin coating yours.
The carton broke across the tiles;
Too many words each swallowed whole,
But the eyes find what could never be heard.
Watch the smoke fume from the mouth
Like a chimney from a house coated in winter frost,
Struggling to keep warm when the wood blows none
But cinders and smoke.