The Prison of Smoking - March 31, 2025

while the smoldering tip

of Cagney’s cigarette would grow

an angry orange on inhale

Dietrich’s exhale would become

an alluring twirl of elegance

cool and mystery

old movies used it as device

to craft a character’s demeanor

or set a mood

real smokers these days are rare

a cloudy puff out a car window

foggy swirl from a shadow in an alley

shunned and isolated, they

smoke in a dungeon

of their own making

the horror of their prison -

a dark wound, self-inflicted

over and over and over