December Meme Post 4

[krait]

My fourth prompt was from seerofbread: "smoke". Somehow that resulted in a sonnet for Vlad Taltos.



Grey As Smoke
Great Adrilankha, gleaming capitol
Of an immortal Empire on the shore;
My home, yet not my home: my mother bore
Me in its Eastern ghetto, stained and dull.
A cloak of grey I donned when grown in full:
Admittance to the House of thug and whore,
The grey of death, and black of sorceror
Sans scruple, were the colours of their rule.
A little while I prospered, in the face
Of all the prejudice that stood against me;
Or so I thought. My heart proved me a fool,
And my successes turned into disgrace.
Now no more of that old life can I see;
My Jhereg cloak conceals my hunted face.


smoke, n.
1. the visible vapor and gases given off by a burning or smoldering substance, especially the gray, brown, or blackish mixture of gases and suspended carbon particles resulting from the combustion of wood, peat, coal, or other organic matter.
2. something resembling this, as vapor or mist, flying particles, etc.
3. something unsubstantial, evanescent, or without result.
4. an obscuring condition.