Smoldering Suicide Poem by Karen Edwards

It started in my childhood,
by sixteen, I was trapped,
held firmly in nicotine's
evil grasp. Winning battles
through the years, escaping
breaking free, but never for
long. The war was far from over.
Intelligence notwithstanding,
common sense evaporates even
with full knowledge of
the health risks, and the financial
burden as I set dollar bills
aflame every time I flick my Bic,
or try yet another cessation product
that never seems to finally rid me
of this demon. Mobility is an issue,
long flights are out, long walks too,
for that matter, you can't go far
when you can't breathe. Yet,
here I sit, cigarette firmly
between my lips, hell bent on
my own destruction, fully aware
with every puff, I'm committing
a slow, smoldering suicide.