A child’s booted feet

Jump the rainbow puddle

Diesel on waters top

Holiday on tropical beach,

Washed up waste at your feet,

Plastic from the oceans depths,

In Leaving the earth dressed,

man’s hand me downs,

Of smog and pollution.

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

Corrodes my nostrils as I watch others die from within

In the name of their addiction

 The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

Assaulting my senses overpowering my sensibilities

In the name of personal choice

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

Reminds me of how close to death I came

In the name rebellion

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

No longer lingers around another’s dead body

Does it look cool to die such a death?

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

Will never cling to my clothes again

Now I have learned the cost

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

Burns my nostrils as I watch one more destroy themselves

in the name of self-gratification

The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke

No longer my vice as I watch to many others die

Goodbye now 15 years in my past

To the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke.

© rog leach November 2018

          The steam caresses over my weary body with its warmth,

          The stars greet my tired eyes with their sparkle,

          The silence embraces my jaded ears with its peace,

          The solitude grants my mind a little tranquillity,

          Mountain top bath under stunning stars,

          Alone in the boondocks at last,

          Far from the dystopia that haunts me,

          In this utopia of my mind’s eye,

          Putting into lyrical words of poetry the thoughts

          That overflows my damaged mind,

          When I have nowhere else for them,

          But in these very lines,

          My body now wants to depart,

          My heart mangled beyond repair,

          My liver has had its day, now drowned,

          My eyes have seen things to many,

          My ears have heard the very same to many,

           Now here are my last words to you,

          Seek out your solitude before it’s too late,

          To let go all that hate.