"AN AFTER-DINNER IMMORTAL" by William Marr

[marrfei]

-- “one cigarette after dinner, happy as an immortal”
a Chinese saying



sucking in, blowing out
sucking in, blowing out
comfortably reclining on the couch
with eyes half closed
the immortal was listening to his young son
reciting under the dim light
the history of the Opium War

in the thick of the swirling smoke
a section of ash that had been cultivated to attain divinity
was shaken abruptly by the burning words
“to cede lungs and pay indemnity with intestines”
and fell to the ground