09:08:12 a.m.
I DIDN’T KNOW
smoking
was allowed in elevators,
she said,
her small talk smacking
with sarcasm.
But I was too shook to notice.
You . . . can see that?
I replied
all goofy,
my game no good around ghosts.
I wondered if she
thought it was me
lighting up
before she got on
since she couldn’t see
Buck in the corner
puffing out,
making faces like,
Get on with it.
Uh . . . of course.
It’s everywhere,
she said,
pinching back a cough.
She fanned smoke
from her face,
thumbed to Buck,
who shook his head and blew vanishing halos.
She could see him.
She could see him?
She could see him!
Then
she turned to me and added,
I didn’t know
guns
were allowed in elevators either.