Sunlight

A man of fifty-two sits with a cigarette.

One smolders in the ashtray

among four butts.

Puff, Inhale, Exhale

Hesitating, he rolls down the corridor.

One man with a walker loiters at the nurses’ station

Another shuffles into the TV room.

He turns a right corner.

Puff, Inhale, Exhale

A nurse stops him, another dose of pills

twelve to be exact.

Her cart squeaks; she goes on.

He sneers

Puff, Inhale, Exhale

Through a window, he sees a squirrel scamper up a tree.

The cigarette twitches in his hand.

He pushes the chair forward.

Large, glass, double doors swing out.

He ventures outside — stops

and puts out his cigarette.