litter remembering

saw an empty Newports box
on the street
walking home from BART

and certain faces
flashed into my mind
certain moments from a
certain time

when i slept
at sunrise
and my lungs bore
harsher burdens
and the rest of my
body too

i remembered
how i was told once
to throw caution
to the wind

and how for
a while,
i threw everything
at every glimmer
of possibility

i don’t quite know
where my caution
is now

i still
bring cigarettes
to my lips
more often than
people would like

but they’re no longer
so strongly
mentholated

and i see the sunrise
every single day
from the other
side of sleep

and oh,
that caution?

i suppose it’s
still
drifting
in the wind
somewhere.