smoke & ash

the paper on a cigarette,
glowing orange edge
cutting through dark
cutting through cold
it flickers
races down the length
consuming it
leaving only smoke and ash

it demands
you keep going back

for more...

the draw
takes
the breath
flares
the smoke
tightens
the more you pull
the less you have

but
I want to be fed
not consumed.

I want light that slips slowly up
setting my skin aglow
leaving warmth
like the sun rising,
rays
kissing my toes
caressing past my knee
pulling me from the shadows
extracting the cold from my bones
slowing the rise of my chest

It invites.
It gives.
I bloom.

I breathe deep and expand
I sit still and am met
the light is inevitable
I know
when the shadows rise again
there’s no emptiness
my body remembers
warmth will return

and I rest
I yearn

I am rooted deeply

I grow.