It was five o'clock

Her day had been rough

With stress boiling over

Like satin's revenge

Just waiting to scorch

The boss, the boyfriend,

Or little miss perfect

All decked out in pearls

And only two dollars

Left until Friday.

Just one more word

One single word

To make her cringe

Would set her off

As she sat at the wheel

In the light of silence

To wait in wonder

Who would dare

To test her patience

With fury and might

Would it be

The delivery man

Who whistled outside

Unloading the truck

Or would it be

The dog that barks

Every day at the fence

While cats in the ally

Go hissing and jumping

Through aluminum cans

For scraps of food

Covered in dirt.

She didn't care

One damn little bit

As she blinked her long lashes

And then took a drag

That went swirling through

The rusty old car

Of torn leather seats

And wheels just barely

To drive the paved roads.

She was ready to fire

With a pissed off look

She'd never seen

As her finger then nudged

To pull on the trigger

One, two, three

And off she went

With a whole in the ceiling

As the after smoke twirled

In front of her face.

A little girl screamed

While her mom was in shock

But continued to walk

As the woman just sat there

And closed her eyes

As though all the rage

Just left her soul.

One more drag

And one more blow

Of addictive smoke

With whispering clouds

To wonder and leave

Through the cracked open window

While cars passed by

As though nothing went wrong.

Relieved with a laugh

She turned the car keys

With her hands on the wheel

To pull out of sight

And become just another

Figure of sorts

Lost in a daze

On the busy road home.