Color Collective Poem

Smoke Gray-Benjamin Moore
2120-40

The door is closed,

And will not open

For the sky shows nothing

But darkness.

I can barely hear your steps

I can barely feel your presence

As I listen to the TAS TAS

Of the stethoscope hit the

Dinner table.

The next thing I hear isn’t out

Of the extraordinary and I realize

I was wrong.

You go out the backdoor

And I can see you

With the clean

White robe that mom so carefully

Washed.

The robe of a doctor that will soon

Reek

Gray smoke.

When the doors are locked,

And the curtains shut,

Your heavy steps

Travel through the stairs.

But before you reach me,

Your youngest daughter,

I inhale.

I inhale all the  gray acid fog

That comes

With you.

The early light announces day,

Announces another weekend.

I numbly go down the stairs

Only to see you and

Your loyal companion.

Your minion

Dangling from your forefinger and your middle finger

Carefully sitting on your right hand.

You seem so consumed,

So obssesed,

Closing your eyes every time you

Smell,

Every time the doctor takes a drag.

I’ve seen them.

The publicity that blames it

All

On the cigarette.

I’ve seen them.

The professionals talking about

The nicotine,

The tar,

The carbon monoxide

And all the components that will soon bring

Lung cancer,

Emphysema

And heart diseases.

Yet I come home,

Only to find you inhaling,

Only to find you enjoying

The pleasure and satisfaction

That the smoke brings.

So please promise me and I’ll hope.

Promise me you’ll remember the time

When you were so addicted,

When breathing smoke

Made you blithe.

And I’ll hope for health to fight every battle.

Promise me you’ll never forget the

Cigarette butts

That were left in the ashtray.

And I’ll hope for health to fight every battle.

Promise me you won’t regret

The minutes you spent

Igniting those mistakes.

And I’ll hope for health to fight every battle.

For if the emphysema never catches up to you,

I promise you I’ll remember the second-hand smoke

That came from the doctor

That inhaled

All the

Gray Smoke.

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