Smoke

a mini movie

when it hit

the first time,

she thought cloud nine

was at the top

of Jacobs ladder—

so she climbed

mind games

freeze framed

the film

stops

screen widens

and displays

rooftop

where boy sits

upon pipe dreams

deferred

payment plans

on life

expectancy

leave him perturbed—

he sits

the second hit

takes her even further

than the last

way past rainbows

and pots of gold

or silver linings

he’s…eyeing

his mother

from the rooftop,

wondering

if his hitting

rock bottom

could make her stop

she stares

at a flame

that flickers

beneath smoke-filled

glass

perceptions

cracked

and distorted

flashbacks

of her first kiss—

he was

in the other room

sleeping:

a boy of ten

and at five

minutes

to one

her lover

passed her

a glass dick

that she would

suck,

slowly

but for the first time

only—

watching the smoke rise

beyond the glass pipe

before filling her lungs

and making her head

too heavy

to lift up

five years later

to see her son

peering over a rooftop

with a white flag

clenched

between his teeth—

ready to surrender

his beliefs

just to…fix

the cracked

image

of his mother

which mirrored death

so to the ledge

he steps

the camera zooms in

for an eye shot

he loses balance

briefly—

regains stability

and watches a rock fall

that he kicked

with his foot

steps

backward

off the ledge

and races

down fifteen flights

towards life—

he just might

be able to stop

his mother’s shaking hands

from raising the pipe

to lips

that used to kiss him

goodnight—

awakened

by her son’s tears

she speaks:

something jumbled

and juxtaposed

about

love

barely escapes

her lips

tremble—

the scene fades

to white

an awed audience

wipes a vision

from beneath their watering eyes

the credits roll

in them

are the names

of fallen father’s

and son’s

mother’s

daughter’s

sisters

brother’s

cousin’s

friend’s

people

with outstretched hands

on street corners—

pleading for

change

men and women

who sleep

in fetal positions

under box houses

other’s huddled

around burning trash bins

for heat

a song fades

the credits stop

audience rises to feet

and the smoke—

clears.