London Bridge platform - 8:16

Kim Morrissey
From:   Smoking. Staines, England: Vennel Press, 1997.

in school it was only the cool
kids who could manage the shades
the smoke perfectly poised
for seduction       each stubbing
pressed hard by the pain

here people wait quietly
and while they wait, smoke
their own cigarettes, politely
extinguishing for the tannoy
not the train

there they still form perfect circles
within circles
wait for the bell

and then wait

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Kim Morrissey's works copyright © to the author.