Just One

It was such a little thing to look upon,
I wondered what it would be like to try ‘just one´.
Several of my loved ones were older, you see,
They smoked them after eating and quite frequently.

I couldn´t wait to hold one and light it up and try,
No matter that I was ten years old, the law I did defy.
I found a pack of cigarettes and began to experiment,
This made me feel grown up, now my breath needed Peppermint!

For I knew I wasn´t old enough to smoke or play with fire.
I feared that if I should get caught I´d pay, for I´m no liar.
At first I thought this was so exciting to sneak and try something new.
But before I even knew what happened an addiction daily grew.

Suddenly such a little thing that I felt that I could control,
Began to make me suffer, when unable to smoke this became a stronghold.
I was torn between what my body now craves, and regardless of the woes,
For I no longer was entertained by the cigarettes as my addition did grow.

I often wonder after many years abusing my body from within,
For smoking is now my security blanket and the worst deceiving end.
For I can hardly, breathe when the stairs I try to climb.
Don´t let the little things get you, be set free, and the truth do find.

Joy Keeton Thompson