French Inhale

When we were small, well
When we were between
Old child and teen

We stole our father's cigarettes
To learn the ways of life

And other things,
Rebelling I suppose,
Practicing the smoke

And little did I know
So many decades on
That this maneuver that
I'd learned

Would give me pause
One long night
Not knowing much of
Anything
Not even for sure that
Spring was coming.

But looking at it all
Head on
What I pull back to me
I attend to
Life won't last forever
And some things might happen
Maybe not.
But it's all of a fine circle
And as I watch,
Remembering,
The knowing and the shadows
Curl