Yeh, I know. . .Mooooore poetry

Not that I really think anyone read this but eh its habitual now.
O, and if your stealing this I will find out and I will do the most ungodly things to you.
Enjoy :]


A Cigarette and a Compliment

You know you are at your lowest
When you go from store to store
Neighborhood to neighborhood
In search of the right pack of cigarettes
And finally settle for a freebee
From a stranger who watched you
Enter the store anxiously
And leave cussing under your breath:

“Do you need a cigarette?”
She asks kindly
I was taken off guard;
“O, uhm, yes. Please!”
She shuffled six packs
Of cheap alcohol to dig
In a rather large purse
And produced the damn things.
“Here.” And pause - as I take it.
“You smell good—
Whatever that is.”
Again, I am taken of guard;
“O, thanks.” I laugh nervously
As she looks at me gently,
But also like a piece of meat
Somehow at the same time.
“Do you have a lighter?”
I ask somewhat embarrassed.
“O yeh. Here.” Again from the purse
And again, I: “Ah, Thanks.”
She almost lit it for me
But I delicately took it,
Rudely took it, away.
I lit up and returned it.
“O god, thank you.”
I could sense something;
Feel it crawling up my spine.
I slowly drifted away
Across the empty parking lot
Feeling like I used my looks(ha!),
My charm(haha!),
And a year or so of acting classes
To get what I needed to forget
That damn dial-tone ringing
Provocatively in my head.
If only she were younger
And thinner. Or if only
I was less picky
I would have asked her
Where her night begins
And followed her to the ends.

But I’m not gunna put out
For a cigarette and a compliment.

I finish the cigarette at my car
Leaning on it like some junkie;
Like some scumbag shithead.
I could feel everything move
Fluidly again. I flicked it down,
Stomped it out, swam into
The driver seat of my car,
Started it, waited, waited, waited,
Waited, checked, waited, no calls,
Or texts. No nothing. I turn on
The radio, send out texts, call
A person or two. No returns.
She probably had pretty friends
Right now I’d put out
For a cigarette and a compliment.

© Liam Elliott 2007. All Rights Reserved.