(N)ot (R)equired (T)oday


Maybe it's the peer group, maybe it's to look good,
Maybe it's a growing pain, maybe it's the blue haze,
Maybe it's symbolic, maybe we're catatonic,
Maybe we will bum one, maybe we will buy some,
Maybe it's the High School, maybe teachers shoulda ruled,
Maybe it's the parents, daily setting boundaries,
Maybe we were bored, may-be we were excited,
Maybe we were unafraid, maybe smoking got us laid,
Maybe it's society, we reject the piety,
Maybe it's the fear, maybe failure's ever near,
Maybe we will stop at ten, maybe we will start again,
Aren't we always in control, setting standards, reaching goals,
Maybe we just tried one, maybe we just thought it fun,
Maybe we have changed our minds,
Grandad coughed, and then he died.
Maybe it's the chemicals, maybe it's the tar,
Maybe it's our lungs, sitting in a hospital jar,
Maybe we don't want to stink, maybe we began to think,
Maybe we can spare our kids, maybe we just wanna live,
Maybe we will win first time, maybe we will try again,
Maybe we will gain some pounds, maybe it's the M&Ms,
Maybe we will go CT, maybe NRT for me,
Maybe we will read and post, what's the problem, stay the course,
Maybe we will fear the pain, don't look down, record the gain,
Maybe it will be a blast, FWD soon in the past,
Maybe all that matters is, that in the end,
I just quit!
 


Unlike most of my work, this poem was directly inspired by a song I heard at a concert in Annapolis, MD. The singer and writer is Cheryl Wheeler, and this is an adaptation, for my purposes. Thanks Cheryl, the concert, btw, was terrific :)