You are there-
At the heart of existence
Crawling in memories
Surging inside the branches
of my aortic archway
like a cascade of wastewater
sending the last bits
of exuberance away
into exile.


You slither beneath
a pile of hopeful dreams-
the rash and folly of youth
Their hearts ripped apart
by your front fangs
Your voracious tongue
splashes my depth
and dips its venom
in my flowing pith-
pleasure. .


So you are there!
Everytime I look for breath
in my creaky chest
but find only cigarette smoke
drifting away from 'your' lungs.
There's a glow at night
that of the firefly in me-
I guess, or the end
of your seventh cigarette
I cannot tell.

Nobody sees you these days
But you are still there.
I always sense your mischievous fingers
and ecstatic half-open eyes
a moment before I realise
You are really gone.