Ashtray Memory

My books are available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?ref=sr

The ashtray is overflowing again.

Lipstick-smudged filters,

crimson ghosts of neon nights

and jagged dreams.

Some cigarettes thin and elegant�"

the kind that look like they belong

to women who slipped out of high heels,

blouses half undone,

bent over at the motel dresser,

taking the world on hard and fast from behind.

Others rolled by hand,

zigzag paper, uneven ends,

burned down to the nub

like they didn’t care how they ended.

No filter at all on a few�"

just grit and paper

going straight to the lungs,

burning what’s left of the soul.

Ash piled like minutes

that forgot they were supposed to move on.

A spill of whiskey beside it,

caught in the mahogany grain,

a small, perfect pond

on a ragged shoreline.

Nobody remembers who got here first,

or who stayed last.

Just the ashtray

collecting versions of people

who thought the night would never end.

Dust settling in

and all of us

drifting through it.

Author's Note

Just posted a new long-form poetry reading on my YouTube channel featuring selections from Aluminum Cowboys, one piece from Sleep Always Calls, and a sneak peek from my upcoming book Searching for Nod, coming this November.

A simple at-home reading—just the work and the page.

Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvZAR6uno3A

Books available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=xsU45&content

Thanks for reading and listening.

Reviews

[Brandon Houser]

Just the ashtray
collecting versions of people
who thought the night would never end.

Dust settling in
and all of us
drifting through it.


Damn. The lines above are the type of lines that sell the whole piece, and more.
You created a world here. Great piece!

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[John the Baptist]

Cigarettes are used as symbols of people in this offering of night life poetry. Different cigarettes present differently here. Some represent jagged dreams, others, burned down to the nub. The ashtray collects visions of people who thought the night would never end. Meaningfully, dust is settling in on all of them.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, kind sir.

[Ken Simm.]

This to me sounds/looks like the kind of Americana that Edward Hepper painted. Wonderful, sad composition.

[Thomas W Case]

I have Nighthawks hanging in my room. Thanks, Ken.

[Soren]

This is magnificent Thomas the ashtray becomes the lens through which life is seen the gathering point of humanity and cigarette buts the projections of the people that use them. It is gritty and full of the grime of humanity and its diversity. Nicely written if feels like it fell out of a Steinbeck novel.

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you. I love Steinbeck

[Soren]

You are most welcome. So do I he was quite gritty

[red93]

Great narrative this - it reminds me of one of those Films where they tell the story from several different people's perspectives. So much good detail in this Piece. Really Excellent ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Buddhistboy73]

Neat, thoughtful write here Thomas...

I liked the analogy of the ashtray, used to describe its various contributors, and the energy and stories they brought to the table..

These were my favourite lines:

Just the ashtray
collecting versions of people
who thought the night would never end.


BB

[Thomas W Case]

Thanks. Much appreciated.