Jihad (Ultra Mild)
i could murder a cigarette but
i'll hold off for now - the time is
not right - & if i ignite here wow
who knows what might go up with me
there in the stratos, in the fear
the wind-up bird that's growing old
constrained at every turn the signs
to left & right declaring rauchen
verboten - except in open spaces
where (we presume) one's less liable
to hurts - subways & buses (natch)
are right out & on holidays well
it's understandably hard to resist
sparking up - & yet you must for
after brennschluss well what then?
what ticket stubs from heaven will
you produce to clear your name?
of lines i'm careless still - we've plenty
left to fill - but breaths? & words?
how to enunciate these when your
lungs are still the cilia have ceased
their beat? without air bodies are
mere meat & we just the memories of
braveries dares - but still the trigger
impulse or this drunken affair sitting
on some backstep while smoke drifts
in the london air ... they've struck
again or else it's just a match -
or else the flash the bare stench of
frustration willing to ignore facts:
a puff of white smoke (we have a pope)
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