It's Not a Joke

Most useless thing

Thin cylinder of paper,

Click of a lighter,

Hesitation,

Will I be a fighter?

“Are you a chicken?!”

“Come on!”

“She’s too scared”

“You’re such a moron!”

Deep breath,

Puff of smoke,

Life changes,

It’s not a joke.

“She did it!”

“You’re one of us!”

“ Come on Taylor!”

“You’re a boss!”

It’s fruitless,

One use,

You’re condemned,

Yet you have no clue.

Slow death,

I want to go back,

To tell that bullied girl,

That you can’t go back.

Deep breath,

Puff of smoke,

Life changes,

It’s not a joke.

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Love your original style, spacing, staccato cadence, repetition, use of dramatic dialogue and line breaks in this important
poem. Your rhyme ingrains itself in the reader’s mind. I think you have done everything right here CatCrazy. You have presented a lethal theme and driven it home. Smoking is a choice only the first time. “It’s not a joke.”- read and weep. Brava!

[CatCrazy0430]

Thank you so so so so much for the positive feedback!!!!

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

You are so welcome! Keep writing!

[Faust]

This was a great poem. Peer pressure is super scary.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

A poem filled with regret and guilt and pain as the protagonist feels she has to bend and fit in with her peers but knows it is not her. Sadly too common.

[CatCrazy0430]

Yeah. I hope this world will someday change for the better. Peer pressure is a terrible thing.

[CBH]

So relevant to our modern habit of vaping too! It's crazy the things that people will put in their bodies, but you illustrated the effects of peer pressure. well. Love the formatting of this piece also.

[CatCrazy0430]

Thanks! for the feedback!

[Robert Trakofler]

Ha I happened by this accidentally! I love it and i hate smoking too!!!! anytime someone asks or says something about it I tell them i hate smoking.... its a disgusting, annoying and stupid habit but for the life of me (no pun intended) I have never been able to quit. but this write is great the rhyme & rhythm and the flow of your pausing creating a perfect cadence to your lines wonderful writing in here :)

[CatCrazy0430]

Thank you so much for the feedback! I hope you manage to quit one day. Stay strong!

[barleygirl]

The best part of this piece is the way you SHOW instead of tell . . . the dynamics of peer pressure. This is so palpable, the way you use italics to show the urging & taunting so realistically. This is one of the most original & effective pieces I've read this week (& I read alot here)! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[CatCrazy0430]

Thank you so much for the feedback! It means a lot!