Wet Abyss

September 2009

We took a break and went outside to share a cigarette. He drew-in and then exhaled.  Smoke had never smelled so good coming out of a person. It was raining and the road was oily black and the streetlamps splashed golden light into the puddles. I stared at them and thought, "This is life. This is what life is all about... these brief moments of utter pleasure and pain and happiness".  The sound of music drifted from the bar down the street, muffled by the sound of falling raindrops. We sat there in silence, my hand in his. He stared into the soaking black night, and I stared into the abyss of an impossible future.