It’s real, you know,
the chest congestion, the disgusting
productive cough: the years’
accumulation of tar
loosening towards the end of the
three-day physical withdrawal.
When that godawful anxious jonesing scritchity-scratchity on the insides of your arms and chest and head,
Minuscule rodents rending and tearing veins, and capillaries, who the fuck knows about the arteries—
“Let them eat steak,”—RFK (not the real one; he’s been dead longer than you’ve been alive)
But they’re not doing this again, not to me, not paying for another guarantee
of both of life’s certainties.
I’m done wasting my time
Proving common knowledge
for an non-existent assignment.
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
Keep reading
More stories from Harper Lewis and writers in Poets and other communities.
Letter to my Daughter
You have a choice to make here: are you going to continue the cycle, or are you going to break it? Keeping your son away from me hurts him; there’s no question about that. I thought you were being hurt, and I was trying to protect you, not punish anyone when I kept your grandfather away from you. I have said that I was wrong and I am sorry, but there was never any malice involved.
By Harper LewisExclusive • 2 months ago
Comments (2)
Wow! Harper this is super-cynical and I get it. The whole process of quitting Smoking/vaping is a monumental decision. But it seems that the government that tells you it’s bad to smoke is the same government that profits off your smoking. Big tobacco and vaping companies have lobbied the Trump administration, including fake RFK in order to attain favorable policies to keep people addicted to their products. It’s like RFK jr is telling us one thing but his actions are leading to an opposing outcome - I call it hypocrisy. Hey, but that’s okay because smokers/vapers are paying their “sin” taxes on this stuff - only to enrich the billionaires and CEOs. I wish you success in quitting - you don’t need this poison that our current government is secretly working to keep you and others addicted. Look who is being cynical now - sorry for my cynicism.
I wish my chest congestion was self induced right about now….