It was cold, so cold I needed to wrap myself In a blanket from the trunk of her car. I coughed for the next six weeks anyway. You were leaning against the wall with the rest of them. We sat on the ledge hanging over A seven-story drop. You looked at The city lights. I looked at the pavement Far below. You didn’t notice, and I was glad. Bursts of laughter broke the chill of the wind. I could hear my father’s sigh of disappointment In the scuffling and scraping of our shoes against bricks As we passed the pack of menthols. Smoke danced in lazy pirouettes toward the velvet sky, And lighters clicked in applause. The back of my throat burning With sickly sweet peppermint, I imagined your lips would taste like something softer. Your thumb caressed the cigarette as your hand rested Steady on your knee, and I wondered at How such a miniscule movement of your fingers Could make blackened lungs look like Inkpots overflowing with words that Sound like sugar-coated lilies. Planes blinking overhead, the midnight air Kissed goose bumps on my skin; I shivered.
Employee Parking Only -- m.k.l.