ashes

shadowed self
no longer shaved,
shirt
misbuttoned.
still blue in the eyes,
but watered
and confused.
each cigarette is lit
with the last one.
the photo on the mantle
shows the younger
version.
broad shouldered
in the sun,
feet gripping the links,
a club in hand.
and now,
the tv sits ten feet away,
the light
of it all
pulling him in,
the cigarettes piled
in ashes
in a once white tray.