Inhaled, indelible  

40-a-day road-trips,  

in a 3-door lagoon-blue 

Mark II Hillman Imp. 

Backseat passive passengers 

tapped and shuffle packed.  

Oblivious to the slow burn, 

no open windows, not even a crack. 

Upfront, ritual smokes, 

their bond of small pleasure. 

Love over Embassy Gold 

compact and ash-covered. 

Dad’s heart said give up. 

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Sister mine.

A perfect

spite-jewelled child.

Eyes and smokes

rolled, over

our shared veins.

Frayed but firm,

trapping us

in warm blood.

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Back in those days

you could smoke in the pubs,

we’d suck on those sticks to our finger tips

then casually, carelessly drop the stubs

and twist them into the floor with our feet,

openly, brazenly, never discreet.

The stench of burning carpet, the smell of spilt ale

would meet in a plume of noxious gas,

fetid, fusty and stale;

like a fart in a working man’s café.

A flo...

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Wrapped in whiskey 

Tender words roll off your tongue

like how I roll this blunt for us

Car ride to a party we'd rather skip

Turns into an L ride that helps us tolerate

the people you call your friends

You allow alcohol to consume you

And I act like high is the new sober so you let me drive

Stumbling like you can feel the earth's rotation

I play the pillar

the earth's...

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I pull you out 
Smoothing your creases 
Lying you flat so I can 
Fill you with 
A sweet mixture of guilt 
And poison
There's artistry in my fingers
As I roll you expertly
(From years of practice)
Along your length
Into the shape I desire
I lick your edges 
Firmly sealing you with a feather like touch
I place you lovingly between
My lips
Flicking the flame 
That will bring you to li...

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Chipper people,  old and young,
making the most of the evening sun,
sucking death into their lungs
beneath a high street awning:

Formerly sociable,  carousers and clubbers
but outcast now,  they croon one another
with raucous gurgles of bronchial slobber
and carcinomas forming.

A message made to catch the eye
is emblazoned on the packet’s side:
“Cigarettes gonna make you die!”
but t...

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For a princely sum of seven quid odd

You can buy a fare to see your god

With tar and chemicals in each fag

Your lungs are choking with each drag

Carbon Monoxide with a nicotine kick

Coughing and spluttering until you're sick

But pushing on with your tobacco intake

Tumours and Emphysema from a daily fix

Four thousand chemicals in each toke

Poisonin...

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Please keep on the grass

Smoking allowed

Nine people in this lift

Play your music loud

Please play ball games

By the entry sign

No speed limit

No closing time

22 units every week

Leave open the gate

Don’t sign in on entry

Stay out until late

Please unfasten your seatbelt

This will be an unpleasant ride

Don’t say I didn’t warn you

Chris...

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Been there

Done it

Eaten it

Drunk it

Almost drowned in it

Nearly died

Praised it

Cursed it

Dodged it

Traversed it

Just you name it

I’ll have tried

Smoked it

Snorted it

Been traumatised by it

Reduced to tears by it

Laughed and cried

Run it

Walked it

Chased it

Caught it

Wished I hadn’t bothered s...

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Anaglypta, portaloos

Double glazing, snakeskin shoes

V8 twincam, lightning strikes

Mental illness, Pennine hikes

Great North Runs and parking bays

Eminem meets Peter Glaze

Last bus home and suicide

Cheesecake and formaldehyde

Miniskirts, pay and display

Alloy wheels and Peter Kay

Pop-ups, blouses, USBs

Berlusconi, birds and bees

Window locks...

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From Virginia

He sat and watched them

draw from pipes of bone and clay,

eyes closed in peaceful

meditation. Cast in clouds

of bittersweet transcendence.

I sat and watched him

turn into a hollow man,

wrapped in shrouds of grey.

His constant, shuddering, barks

cough your epitaph, Raleigh.

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