Claire 2

Claire fumbles frantically for a cigarette,
Could it really be only this morning she flinched
this box?
How can it be so empty now?
Two more left.
She fingers the precious cigarette tenderly
And hastily,
she lights up,
hands trembling to do so
Eagerly, she awaits her addiction's claim.
The cruel ember soothes her
The light of the cigarette
is more than she can draw from her drained soul.
She leans against a concrete wall, filthy with graffiti.
Hunger screams loudly
and the cold sucks the life from her weak limbs
Reality claws at the back of her mind
Sometime, but not now,
she will have to feed her thin body
But first, more cigarettes
for there is only one left now
and addiction's hold is violent and unconquerable
And
she must find somewhere to rest where the cold isn't so deep
Tomorrow lurks in the dim shadows
She sighs
The days have become years
and tomorrow seems impossible to handle
But, reality can wait
For now the shaking cigarette is enough.
The ember fades slowly into the night,
and she lets the ashy remains fall at her feet
Claire reaches hastily for the last cigarette
Youth is dark eyed and never ending.