Give 'em up?

Give 'em up?
Can you not see
that every fibre of my being
clamours for this cigarette?

Do you think I choose
to take my place
in the New Minority
-with Ireland's New Age Lepers?

My once cosy perch
on society's ladder
now hovering precariously
in this bitter wind

Three rungs up
from miscreant priests
one down from
smug corrupt bureaucrats

No, stand with me here
in the sleet and the shame, my friend.
Then remind me again
That I choose to smoke

P. J. Murphy

(c) P.J. Murphy Jan 2005