Camel

"Hey remember that time when I would only smoke
Maaaaalboros
Hey remember that time when I would only smoke
Caaaaaamels
Hey remember that time when I would only smoke
Paaaaarliments?
Hey remember that time when I was broke?
I didn't care I just bummed from my friends."

-Regina Spektor sings those words in her song
"That Time"
and I just thought of them as I looked at the ugly dromedary atop my set of drawers.

I can hold it easily in the palm of my hand.
My friend was about to get rid of it, and I could not bear to see it in the trash.
It is a dull gold,
pointless
and lonely with
little
decorative
colored
bumps on it - like jewels.

It has become part of the landscape of my room:
too heavy
to become part of a painting and
too small
to have any decorative impact.

Perhaps I should give him a home
Find a friend for him
give him a name
And he could regain his dignity
And his beauty
And I would think of my sister's
Gorgeous camel-like eyelashes
Instead of cigarettes
When I look at it.