haphazard photographs flash smiles in black <br />and white, show old men smoking life away <br /> <br />I read news printed in dark ink <br />pasted across nothing paper, filled space <br /> <br />of all the world’s emptiness, tied up with <br />strings, placed on doorsteps, framed for <br /> <br />a later year’s wall, no gray, that’s all <br />I’ve ever cared about, either all in <br /> <br />or nothing at all, smoke and smoke <br />and die, or don’t and live awhile longer <br /> <br />don’t just smoke two, don’t just print <br />a lie and dress it up with color, go <br /> <br />with all the grace of a jackhammer <br />pound the world home with a pen <br /> <br />yes sir <br />no sir <br />i will never be a you <br />sir<br /><br />Ben Paynter<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/father-reading-the-morning-paper/
