A reader, perhaps with Straggler 53 in mind, sent me this column from the Irish Independent, standing up for cigarette smoking.

The column made me think of that fine old seventeenth-century ditty in praise of drinking. Then came that familiar fluttering of tiny wings — the Muse had flown in through my study window to kiss me.

According to this Irish bloke
There are ten reasons we should smoke:
When stressed, alone, or to defy
The nanny staters; or to try
For noir-style 1940s chic;
To flirt, go slumming, or to tweak
At Death’s black robe; or to be cool
Like Johnny Depp (that man’s no fool);
To swell state coffers, or at last,
With licit pleasures dwindling fast —
Gone before we’ve time to see ‘em —
Just to practice carpe diem.