you’re off hunting for cigarettes you can smoke

cigarettes you can press your lipstick against

lips covered in fire press against the pale nicotine stain

you face glows against the embers

but you do not grow against yourself

you make a pass to buy a memory

you forget to pay in full but leave a tip for half

13 minutes pass and still you forget

you don’t know the answer to your question

it starts with A

telling others you are here

“i listen to things that you cannot remember” you say

an oddity to no one other then yourself

a name for yourself may exist

but a name yourself i must forget

a thought to be above the crowd

the only note that makes a lasting impression

an impression of annoyance

i listen by force to hear what i know will happen

and a note to be noticed, yet a note to be denoted.