She stated the obvious
while I puffed on my cigarette
"You know smoking kills?"
"Yeah, want to die?"
I held out my stoge
"I like life"
"How do you know
you don't like death
if you've never tried it?"
She stayed
silent

Dear Eddie,
        The best
and worst
thing that ever happened to me
was you dying in that car crash.
It taught me that
life doesn't last
and
that the past
is
the
past,

Your friend and brother,

Dan

Creased lines in your cancer bed sheets
and red wine spills still remain
from that time you celebrated
your chemotherapy success.

Drug-blue cocktails were swapped
for beers from cans,
needles for straws and hospital-stock-
comfortable-armchairs for the advertised sofa in your part furnished floor.

Friends came with warm welcomes prepared
in the back of taxis coming from the city,
they came in wide eyed staring,
holding wine bottles remembering your once real wig of hair.

morning: 2,
future: 0,
reasons
to smoke
cigarettes:
just one.