I didn’t smoke tobacco to look cool,
exactly. I mean, I was not concerned
with peer regards. I made it out of school
and off to college; then my head got turned
by admiration. There I met a guy
who argued like an angel, angled whim
and poetry, smoked Winstons, made me cry
and laugh and long to build a bond with him.

In time we chose to go our separate ways,
but I remained a fan of nicotine.
And though I gave the habit up (the craze
of anti’s blocking all adored routine),
I’m sometimes known to bum one, I’ll confess,
and wed ill-health to unattractiveness.