Up In Smoke

Up In Smoke
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.
