The River

The River I haven’t smoked in more than 15 yearsthough some days, sud­den­ly… I stop, wish for a drag,that first catch of smoke in my lungsand the ris­ing hum of nico­tine in my blood­that brought words cas­cad­ing from my brain.At 64, I’ve begun to miss those mornings,wearing my grandmother’s pale blue bathrobein the smoke saturated …