Ashley’s Daily Life by: Ashley Diaz, Pen and ink on paper, 2010.
Let the Smoke Settle, Then Exale
by: Emily Yandell
Take a drag.
Draw it gently to your lips.
Let the smoke settle, and then exhale.
You live in a world surrounded by the smog you’ve seen others create
With their chimney pipes of deterioration and dehydration.
Trash growing, population piling, intellect in retrospect.
It’s all the same to you anyway.
You’re better than them anyway.
Take a drag.
Draw it calmly to your lips.
Let the smoke settle, and then exhale.
You live in a world surrounded by your ideals that seem
better than you’ve seen before
With change spilling out of your mouth like a slot machine.
Egotism towering, purpose prevailing, second rate left in second place.
It’s all the same to you anyway.
You’ve done your best to be best anyway.
Take a drag.
Draw it slowly to your lips.
Let the smoke settle, then exhale.
You live in a world surrounded by the smog of ideals created before you
Where the brain and the heart beat for one single thought.
Gears turning, people promoting, the here and now hearing how.
It’s all the same to you anyway.
You’ve got the best of the best anyway.
Take a drag.
Draw it smoothly to your lips.
Let the smoke settle, then exhale.
You are the ideal surrounding the world.
With grains of the future falling through the hour glass
Faith flying, light shining, and the promise of promises
It’s all the same to you anyway.
You’ve kept time for yourself anyway.