There were no old times

There were no old times

Time is not like that

There was just before

Not now

Just then.

When everything looked bright

The world was new

Glass gleamed

Sparkled like a toothpaste add

Even as they rolled a joint

From three red Rizlas

Stuck together

With spit and sweat

Smoked some shit or other

Took pills without reading the label

Pretending they knew right from wrong

Just as long as they never used a needle

Lay together

In a communal heap

Listening to Floyd

On a stereo

Dancing the fandango on speed

Big round drug-fueled eyes

Focused on the dope

In the corner

Keeping his shit together

Nobody could smell a rat

The man wore a big white hat

And sold Marlboro

The guy with the scimitar

Looking regal

Wearing purple robes

As if he was Spartacus

A gladiator in combat with

A packet of Silk Cut

Nobody gave a damn

About the smell.

Nowadays I want to leave,

Heave at the faintest whiff

Drifting on the breeze

Downwind

Of an old geezer

Pulling on a wheezer

Dragging a cough

From the depth of the earth

Spilling his guts into the kerb

And I welcome a ban

What was I thinking

Smoking is a passive cigarette

Away from drinking

They go together like fish and chips

Only they don’t.

I throw up at the thought.

Ban the skinny little buggers

Bury them in a deep pit

With all the other shit

We shouldn’t eat

Or drink.

Not that I’m a fascist

They are not books

Just burn them

Oh that is what we are supposed to do

I forgot

(Blame Sir Walter Raleigh,

What a guy).

Well whatever we do

Get that smell out

From under my nose

I am not intolerant

Or impacting a constitutional right

And I don’t want a fight

I am just past the age

Of living dangerously.