'Year After Year' Poem by Tj Murray

I remember her bright brown eyes
looking at me through clouds of cigarette smoke
They looked so cheerful next to the laugh lines above her cheeks
but her skin & teeth slowly turned yellow
because of two packs a day
'Year after year'.
I remember her bright brown eyes
looking at me from behind a tipped bottle
they slowly glazed
paired with a sunken face
looking older and older with each sip she took
'Year after year.'
I remember her bright brown eyes
as they lost focus and dulled
looking at a face with the exact same brown eyes
a face she had raised from birth
without a hint of recognition
'Year after year' had taken its toll
and the cancer had spread throughout her body
lurking behind those bright brown eyes...
No more 'year after year'.