Smoke Knife, by Andrea Mbarushimana

Shaun says it’s the dope

it’s so strong, these days

when you’ve had a few tokes

you can’t let things go

you can’t walk away,

you feel the smoke knife

itching your palm

it punctures through pain

it punctures through pride

and there ends the high

the high ends in blood

pooling in the street

it sticks to your steps

it follows you home

and how do you cope?

you turn to the smoke

try pretending

that none of it’s real