And she asked
Why do you smoke?

Because it reminds me of you
How I let you in
Flooding my chest
Filling the hollow spaces
Where light used to live

You lingered
A quiet storm beneath my ribs
Warm at first
Then burning
Then gone

You left like smoke
Slipping through cracks
Vanishing into the night
Without apology
Without sound

But the burn stayed
Settled into my bones
Turned my breath bitter
And my heart black at the edges

Now I light a cigarette
Not for the taste
Not for the calm
But to feel you again
To swallow the ghost of you
One last time

Every drag is a memory
Every exhale, a prayer
Or a curse
For what you took
And what you left behind

She asked why I smoke
And I couldn’t say
Because the truth is
I already burned