A young woman sits at home,
Idly blowing out dark smoke through her fish lips
She gasps, suddenly, as pain strikes her chest,
And quickly spreads itself throughout her body
Her breathing becomes labored and difficult,
Her vision clouds over with pain,
Her coherent thoughts become fragments of their original selves
Her world melts together in an array of colors, like melted candy
Before a black curtain covers her eyes,
She wonders if she’ll see her family once more.
Vaguely, her ears register her faint heartbeat on the monitor
The doctors’ whispers of “Stroke” and “slim chances of survival”
Resonate through her mind and leave her paralyzed.
The endless warnings she rolled her eyes at,
Dances across her closes eyelids like a rewinded moving , mocking her
She should’ve known,
Should’ve known the nicotine found in tar would choke her
Should’ve known the poison would seep into and slither its way up her veins
Should’ve known the inky smoke would wrap around her heart,
Like a snake with a malicious smile and cold, piercing eyes,
Ready to sink its long, curved fangs into her thumping lifeline
Should’ve known she was destroying herself from the inside out
As the silent tears caress her eyelashes and paint her cheeks,
She prays for a second chance to rectify her life
She should’ve listened, she should’ve known.
Now her life hangs as a tense thread waiting to be cut.