Life is like a packet of cigarettes
So caught up with the mundanity of living
And harassed by life's petty problems
We forgot to see its pleasurable side
Until we come to the very last stick
Which is then cherished, till it burns a finger
Another packet is easily bought tomorrow
But life is not so easy to purchase
Once spent.

[BERNARD HARRISON, from
"The Last Cigarette," Singapore 1981]