Reunion
Tonight I started smoking again,
distractedly extracting a satiny cylinder of strong tobacco
from its elegant, emerald-colored pack,
sliding the cigarette between soft, recently kissed lips.
I light, then inhale.
Maybe the swirling, lingering smoke will erase the scent
of my best friend.
The broad-shouldered buddy who was always at my side
embraced me tenderly this evening,
tasted me.
The grizzled guy who’d gulped down shots of whiskey
while wooing laughing women with me
seduced me successfully under a starless sky.
The comrade I’d counted on
convinced me to be his lover,
and tonight I started smoking again.
©Adrian Slonaker all rights reserved
Zigzagging back and forth across the Canadian/US border, Adrian Slonaker works as a copywriter and copy editor. Adrian’s work has been nominated for Best of the Net and has appeared in Ariel Chart, Aerodrome, WINK: Writers in the Know and others.