The Chain Smoker

He sits on the front porch

To watch the sun go down

A pile of cigarette butts

Gathering on the ground

He's been a chain smoker sixty years

Both his fingers are stained and brown

But what the hell, you only die once

Then he lights up a cigarette

Remembers the Great War

Except that now he can't remember

What they were dying for

It was the one to end 'em all

But he knew there'd be more

And then he lit up another cigarette

And in the glow of the match

He recalled his wedding day

And he smiles as he thinks about

The things she used to say

She was his reason for living

But he went on anyway

With his memories and a pack of cigarettes

He's a chain smoker

Toking on the best years of his life

And tomorrow don't hold nothing

That he ain't already seen

And while the habit just might be killing him

At least, that's what the surgeon general warns

These words of encouragement

Are the last thing that he needs

Then he lights up a cigarette

Thinking back to what the doctor said

At the rate he is going

In a month he will be dead

And so he lights up another

As an old memory comes to his head

And as the sun goes down

He puts out his last cigarette