Up in Smoke

... I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. - Thoreau

inhaled days

pertussis nights

short puffs

long drags

burning down

wanting a light

needing a filter

deep breaths and mild smiles

reaching both sides of incensed

snuffed out

flicked away

thinking this is our last

there's always another

able to bum one when we've run out

sometimes sharing

our own distinct brand of coffin nails

discarded ifs

lingering butts

we'll quit tomorrow

always ending up the same way

in life's ashtray

Author's Note

“It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields.” - Thoreau

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I have never smoked, but from what people say, quitting is a b***h. I've quit a few things in life that took me years to wean myself off from. There's nothing as exhilarating as being free from the heavy drag you describe . . . this could be anything, not just cigs. Even religion can be pursued to an equally unhealthy degree, pushing people away instead of drawing them near, increasing isolation, etc. The old description of the liquor bottle as being part of a threesome in a relationship. To me the biggest tragedy of addiction is how it robs us of relationships that might've helped us grow. Very thought-provoking (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

yes. we can become addicted to almost anything in this life. thankfully i don't drink or smoke (occasional beer once in a great while). my best friend is a hardcore alcoholic. i really just meant this to be about how the days of our life pass by kind of like spent cigs and how those who do happen to smoke transfer what's happening in their lives to the cig. thank you for sharing thoughts margie ... :)