Quitting bad habits becomes a bad habit -
What in the world will I quit next?
Constantly trying to be healthier, happier
Longing to live a longer life.
What in the world will I quit next?
I am choking down one last smoke.
These lungs look better in X-ray.
This liquid makes my insides capable of shipwreck.
I am choking down one last smoke;
I swear this is the final drink I’ll chug!
This liquid makes my insides capable of shipwreck,
Flipping a coin to predict my demise.
I swear this is the last drink I’ll chug!
I am not in the mood for gambling anymore,
Flipping a coin to predict my demise.
Cirrhosis, emphysema, and cancer are dirty words.
I am not in the mood for gambling anymore.
Swearing is not the way of the gentleman.
Cirrhosis, emphysema, and cancer are dirty words.
It’s no wonder my tonsils are swollen.
Swearing is not the way of the gentlemen
Chewing my fingertips will not take away these hangnails.
It’s no wonder my tonsils are swollen-
Sometimes I can’t breathe enough to fall asleep.
Chewing my fingernails will not take away these hangnails.
I should probably quit drinking coffee.
Sometimes I can’t breathe enough to fall asleep.
My bed vibrates like an active volcano.
I should probably quit drinking coffee.
Which brings me to my infatuation with speed…
My bed vibrates like an active volcano.
I’ve never tried meth, but I often wonder why it’s so popular.
Which brings me to my infatuation with speed…
Thinking about something too much can develop bad habits.
I’ve never tried meth, but I often wonder why it’s so popular.
Irrational thoughts create insatiable thirst.
Thinking about something too much can develop bad habits.
Constantly trying to be healthier, happier
Irrational thoughts create insatiable thirst
Quitting bad habits becomes a bad habit –
From: Chainsawsmoking: Poems Wrapped in Cellophane
Summary
“Bad Habit” by Aaron Hopkins-Johnson is a poem centered on contemporary life, human experience. The poem develops its subject through recurring images and shifts in emotional pressure rather than reducing the experience to a single statement.
Analysis
Voice
A personal, first-person speaker combines recollection with direct emotional address.
Style and form
The poem is first-person. The poem moves by accumulation: images, references, and tonal turns build on one another, so meaning emerges from their relationships as much as from narrative sequence.
Themes and imagery
Its strongest thematic currents include contemporary life, human experience. Concrete images give those abstractions physical weight, while changes in diction and pace keep the poem from settling into a single emotional register.
Reading the poem
A productive way to read “Bad Habit” is to watch how its images change function as the poem progresses. Details that initially establish scene or memory become emotional evidence. The result is a poem whose argument is carried through association, rhythm, and image as much as through explicit statement.
Explore this poem
Source & rights
Source: Chainsawsmoking: Poems Wrapped in Cellophane (Lawn Gnome Publishing, 2016)
Rights: © 2016 Lawn Gnome Publishing. All rights reserved.