My "Howl"

I’ve seen lungs blackened like the night sky
I’ve seen them wither then shrivel like a raisin in heat
I’ve watched them continue to inhale that tobacco
The sickeningly sweet aroma of sweat and smoke filling the air
Desire, from the mere scent of sweat glands
Animalistic, clawing, scratching desperate for release
Only to resurface less of a person then before
I too have succumbed to their senseless rhythms,
Desirable assets rapped about, but preached against
This nicotine which whets our appetite, breaking the boundaries of wrapped tobacco
Material objects and societal keens
Only filled the void, dug the hole, buried me, further, deeper
And I too clawed, clinging to the bit of self image I managed to maintain intact
I strived only to collapse and collide with waves of decaying dignity and past innocence
I succumbed like the rest without objection,
An uprooted tree in the park, never missed.
I imagine hell is cold.
Like wheezing in the freezing winter air
Like a fractured lung
Some never recover
Some don’t care
Some even feed it
I however long to lick the wings of a soaring dragonfly
Fly higher, get higher; stay higher, to the top office.
Like Businessmen in dry-cleaned suits
Always sulking
Same expression, same posture
Like a swollen lung
Kicking, screaming, contradicting its outward appearance
Blinded by their polished Rolex watches and black Dockers shoes
Like shiny toys, tempting, reminding, deceiving.
Propaganda, this year’s latest fashion
Buy it, wear it, sell it.
Breath it in, go on take it in
Like a drug injected straight to the veins
Societal marks, remain, remain, remain.