1.

two graceful fingers

expertly cradle

the cigarette;

manicured, red nails

flash through the haze

2.

curdled smoke pours from its

vile like haunted milk

3.

the girl watches as

her heartbroken mother

shakily sucks the smoke into

her lungs

4.

wispy, mellow ecstasy flows and pours

soothing the mind,

casting a pallor

over the severity of life

5.

the mist hung about the town

like cigarette smoke

clinging to a smoker's deathbed

6.

the package that he offers you is

larger than a cigarette pack

but smaller than a breadbox,

it is clearly not the diamond ring you

are hopping for.

7.

a grungy black boot stomps

in a volatile manner,

extinguishing a

lingering glow

8.

angry fingers snatch

from between my lips,

this eternal craving.

a disappointed question

flickers in the eye of

my best friend.

9.

i am ashamed

of my poison

infused innards,

though i deny it.

cancerous and rotting

between your lips, i seep

into your lungs and may

never be ejected.

10.

hacking, coughing

and glaring

as they pass,

"those smokers!

uneducated fools,

how dare they!"

11.

black ringed eyes gaze

skywards

as smoke creeps out of bruised lips

and slithers towards

the stars

12.

a handsome youth

clutches a billiard queue

in four fingers, and his cigarette

with the fifth

he looks up, sees me watching,

and winks.

13.

a cigarette is to death

as a cradle is to life