It defies gravity,
hanging on her bottom lip;
a twig caught in a spider’s web.
Suctioned by saliva;
a tender trail of spit.
The poison casts its final gasp upon the saturated sky,
expiring grey on grey.
Her fingers are gnarled tree limbs,
body small and shrunken, like
dried apricots in a vacuum pack.
She stubs her cigarette
on the school gates and turns,
to survey the field beyond.

Copyright © 2014 by Kate W J White (All Rights Reserved)