it's good to be a reader

i was never

one to smoke,

to inhale anything burning,

especially something

addictive.

of course

i tried when young,

those experimental

college days,

but mary jane

made me sleepy, paranoid

and hungry.

i could do that by just

working.

and with cigarettes it

was the same.

holding

the toxic smoke in

my lungs,

getting yellow fingers,

and baked bean teeth

was not my thing.

plus on the side of the package

it said cancer,

heart disease, and other

ailments 

if imbibed 

on a regular basis.

it's good to be a reader

at any age.