Vagabond
4/9/2022, Con/Jur/d

I know
why teachers
eschew chemical
allies, they
can’t have
students, 
superimposing
consequences
with actions

I still remember
being a vagabond
arriving late at night
at the Fort Barry Hostel
how cold the stars shone
how lonely the eucalyptus air
the traveling fellow, glancing
back vanished in a promise
of warmth, the dim lights
too bright within Pacific
borderlands, starlight
struggling free from
from San Franciso’s
bright
bright
lights

And even though
I didn’t smoke, I carried
a pack of clove cigarettes
for occasions, I could only
suspect, like this one
shivering, I lit up
and inhaled the 
aromatic
alkaloids

to an orchestra
of crickets, waves
and biting winds

you scoff, but
without their reminders
I wouldn’t believe the
memory of the warmth
of the glowing cherry
was enough

just as it is.