BLACK WHITE GRAY

Cigarette, unsmoked,
hanging from unspeaking lips,
defiant, uncompromised,
eyes in reverie preoccupied
though staring at me,
afraid of Nothing,
petrified of Nothing,
breath suspended
between inhalation, exhalation,
suspense unresolved,
night’s ebony tresses
cascading into the lungs,
twisting deeply,
stifling her heartbeat,
steel determination
unfazed by opinions,
well-meaning advice,
cigarette, focal point,
cigarette, her desire,
cigarette, indomitable,
cigarette, unsmoked.