Embassy Regal

From the age of seven

I nagged my mother

To stop smoking

I used to hear her cough at night

And in the morning…choking

She was a war child

A lover of Hollywood films

‘Everybody smokes in them’ she said

‘So it must be ok’

Everything was black and white

I recall those billboards

With a cowboy on a horse

Smoking a cigarette

‘Come home to Marlboro Country’

Across a Tobacco desert Plain

The smell of smoke

Seeped into my brain

I took refuge in the rain

I wish smoking was illegal

I once told my Mother

As she lit up an Embassy Regal

Somehow a Royal connotation

Made everything alright

I can still hear the short breaths

Stopping me sleeping at night

I remember the joyous day

My mother decided to stop

I never believed she would

But she proved me wrong

I guess it added several years to her life

Till the cancer came along

And 12 months later

She was gone.

©JMcN2015