Palice reading Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 whilst smoking
So this is why I smoke 🚬
There are a few reasons
But to repel was the first reason
Without going into too much detail
To protect identities
It is private
But some people hate the fact I smoke
So I used it as a repellent
Back off
Stay back
Give me space
‘Don’t stand so close to me’
Hands that have touched me inappropriately
And I am extremely sensitive to energy
And how that energy feels
I am a massage therapist
It is a profession
But if I was giving a boyfriend a massage
It would be a different energy
To if I were massaging a client
Touch
I love having a massage
Hospital
You are no longer allowed to smoke on the wards
And I have been in hospital eleven times
So I have broken the rules
Got tobacco smuggled in for me
American Spirit
What the Native Americans used to smoke
In a pipe
A ritual
After someone dies
To smoke that spirit away
Clear the energy
Smoking comes with a certain energy
I am a poet
This is not a poem
It is a piece of honest writing
I can tell if someone has never smoked
I can tell if someone smokes
I can tell if someone used to smoke but no longer smokes
All from their energy
ENERGY
River smoked
But said people would die from eating a burger
I eat red meat
River was a vegan 🌱
And I respect vegans
Even though I am not one
I am always interested in what tobacco people smoke
Do you roll?
Or smoke straights?
Do you like matches?
The fire 🔥
I used to love Swans
Before they became safety matches
Please do not judge me
For I do not judge you
Yes I can sing
The music producer said I need to give up smoking
Singing is more important to me than smoking
And I know it affects my voice
I always listen to Whitney
She says I have it in me
She sang with the head, heart and diaphragm
Breathing
Her mother taught her
My mother said I would have done it by now
Maybe I was trying to please her with working full time
But I do not blame her
For not understanding my art
I have now explained it
And she knows how much it means to me
So here’s to making my dreams my reality
When I practice
I am often alone
But now if someone asks me to sing
I just sing
In the middle of a pub at full volume
Without a care in the world
Because I was born to sing
I used to sing out of the window at four years old to Oliver Twist
Trying to sound like Oliver
Your dreams don’t go away
They just burn inside of you like smoking
Until you achieve them
So run towards them
Not away from them
Because when you’re eighty in your rocking chair Palice
I do not wish for you to have any regrets