Go up in smoke

I watched you from afar, intrigued by every inhale and every exhale.

You’re staring into the distance, mentally chasing the horizon.

Stop.

I need to know every passenger on your train of thoughts.

Let me check their baggage and send them away.

So you don’t have to.

Because four cigarette breaks in two hours;

I can’t tell if you’re anxious or just pretending to be busy.

But it felt as if every thirty minutes, you forgot how to breathe.

So you step outside to remind your lungs that you’re still trying;

to stay alive.

I wish I could tell you that you smoke too much.

But I can’t even say hi.