COFFEE AND CIGARETTES

coffee and cigarettes
a perfect marriage,
as marriages go.
no.
better than marriage...
they go together,
like yin and yang.
"butts" used to cost me, 25 cents.
a coffee was a dime or so.
i loved my nicotine-and-coffee rush.
it was MY time in the morning...
cradling that hot 'cup-o-joe'.
inhaling that glorious smoke.
joy of joys,
now destroyed and taken away.
morning diners are gone now too.
the days of frankie avalon and hulabaloo.
i sipped with the weird people.
laughing,
yelling,
goofing,
we of large billowing clouds of smoke.
dirty ashtrays,
ham-and-eggs.
pancakes with maple syrup
butter, butter, butter,
was our mantra.
we loved all this good shit.
and it was bad for us.
who cares?
not me!
you know what?
we were fucking happy!
that's right!
finish a cig, and light another,
without striking a match.
i drank a whole pot-a-coffee,
by myself.
fuck nescafe...
real caffeine, i tell yah!
i ate a hearty breakfast,
a veritable belly buster.
Gawd damn!
no one gave a shit about,
heart attacks
cancer
high blood pressure
heart disease
eating disorders
alcoholism
dying young
or the economy.
we went to work or school
then we got drunk
in local chicago taverns.
booze and cigs
get along well too!
this was a perfect marriage...
we were polygymous,
with cigs, coffee, and booze.
by god, we had a helluva good time!
now i chew on a nicotine gum.
people don't know...
how to have fun, anymore.