By Nicholas Barnes
vicious offered me
a turquoise cigarette
just minutes before
the crystal dropped.
it's funny, you see,
smokers are better
at conversation
because they can
pull you into the frost
on a cold dec 31 night
so they can get theirs
while you stumble through
sentences unrehearsed.
clumsy and awkward.
shivering and rattletooth.
you're the boy hostage
to convention and
the ghosts of a
smoking camel
and patty hearst.
one burned out,
one still hangs on,
but your stranger
keeps puffing.
and so will this earth
on its cancerous route
reeling around that
helium tumor
one more time.
one more time:
the maypole virgin
will try spinning
gold from straw.
though she’s getting older
than she’d like to admit.
Nicholas Barnes earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Southern Oregon University. He is currently working as an editor in Portland, and enjoys music, museums, movie theaters, and rain. His least favorite season is summer. His favorite soda is RC Cola.
He can be found online on his homepage.