Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
The Distinct Click of a Zippo Cigarette Lighter
A man
An old man
An old man slumped in a wheelchair
An old man slumped in a wheelchair outside the cardiac clinic
Smoking a cigarette
An old man smoking a cigarette, not the clinic
The clinic is not smoking in any way
While armed with smug looks of disapproval
We could pursue him with guilt and consequences
Along the disinfected corridors
Of offices, labs, and consulting rooms
Maybe even past the patch-painted corner
Where the cigarette machine used to be
And the pay ‘phone and the newspaper rack
But Bogart and the Marlboro Man are dead
A Zippo clicks as it did in his youth
Leave the old man smoking his past alone
Because he is alone, and because he is dying
And his cigarette is the only joy left to him
