please stop smoking, dad\ni saw you the other day\na haze of gray drifting out of the garage door\nit made it hard to breathe\nwhen i questioned you\nyou hid that cigarrette behind the paper\nand smiled, your teeth stained brown\nyour skin stained yellow\nand i remembered when i was a child\nthis house did not suffocate me\nperhaps even then, it was just a dream\nand i turned around and was brought to my knees\nbecause the only thing i saw was your open casket\nand mom telling me she was proud of me\nbut i noticed the tear stains she wore\nand the worry lines, etched around her eyes\ni knew it was because of you\nbut i still didn’t say anything\ninstead, i shook off the moment and went back inside\nand i didn’t say anything\nwhy didn’t i say anything?\nplease, stop smoking, dad

Pollution