We were drinking in borrowed cigarette smoke, a half-

stubbed out thought etching embers into the half-

light, resting on the ribs of the seat long since

broken but too easily ignored, heaving with stolen

lungs to chase away the inevitable

day.

I saw you, your heart searing a hole

into the edges of the velvet night, and watched,

minute by minute, as you relearned how to breathe,

like a diver – coming up for air.