Smoking Outside the Mall

I quit a couple years ago,
but when Tim offers
I can’t say no to that beautiful
son of a bitch.
With the twitch of a thumb
and a quick blue spark
time freezes
like those old pictures
I’ve thumbed through
enough times
I’ll recall every crease
when my brain is only goo.
We talk about old times
security guards still give us shit,
but we look cool to little kids.

It’s about purple shirts
we never wash
because they only gave us one
and we work every fucking day.
That first line of powder
off the rusted key
to the family station wagon.
Crucifying little plastic men
with great big smiles
on their oversized yellow heads.
Nickel and diming the company to death
one Kit Kat and pack of Skittles
at a time.
It’s about being 16
and knowing you don’t have
to take shit from anyone.

My mouth’s regained the taste
and I can’t enjoy it like before.
We crush our butts on the sidewalk;
now it’s time to go back to our lives. 
For the few minutes we killed ourselves
that one girl with the big rack
was still working there
along with the hope of walking to the backroom
and seeing the piercings in her nipples.

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Mike Vance has dabbled in poetry his entire life. He also writes reviews for the website Last Movie Outpost to help keep his creative juices alive. He studied English at Radford University in Virginia. He currently lives in Williamsburg, VA with his wife and two children.