Cruel Ideas

on flammable wings,

cigarette sears

till crushed paper stem,

anthologize those words

expressing deeper resonance,

ashtray full,

critical insect scattering

itself about the table,

unconcerned,

only for the journal

and words contained,

glasses pinching eyes

now reddened,

how many coffees

a breeze touched his face

butterfly fell,

still now on sidewalk

unprepared for this

immediate cruelty,

he looked again

at his journal,

those left handed

surges of ink,

had they meaning

and if so

would anybody care

stainforth cigarettes (1)

magpie tales statue stamp 185