What It's Worth

A short poem about someone who is about to go down a bad road.

His compulsion comes from a useless want
like the match stick struck upon his boot heel
that draws carefully to a cigarette;
calm, cool, and most certainly collected,
yet, when he takes-nothing else can matter
just like that first incendiary drag.
A thin trail of smoke from an implement
trails like a spent fuse from firecracker bursts
that release piercing thoughts into your world.
And, when he pries a leather wallet from
dying fingers that were willing to give,
one simple thought dances across his mind,
he stands wondering what your life is worth
as his lips take that first compelling drag.