Hook Me While I'm Young

I’ve taken up smoking
to see what it’s like
to be addicted to something
other than you.

The heat in my lungs
replaces the burning in my heart.
The cough and wheeze
take the place of laughter.

The glowing red cherry
on the paper white exclamation
is the sound of you memory
crackling to ash.

And the Lucky Strike
when I’ve sucked the husk to hollow
I can flick the dirty shell
or crush it with my weight.

In the gutters and the sidewalks
lie a million other filters
of a million other hearts
used up by a million slamming doors.