a word of advice

when working with soft pastels
be aware of the copious amounts
of colored dust that is created...

this dust is instinctively drawn
into any number of nearby orifices,
namely the eyes, nose and mouth

my throat was dry and scratchy
from intense chalk dust inhalation
so i reached for my water
and attempted to gargle my troubles away

but my throat had had enough abuse,
choking on the water and violently
rejecting it from my body
and directly across my pastel drawing
which i had slaved over for days

luckily i was able to save the drawing
by lunging for the papertowels and
some deft working of the art gum eraser
but my throat has not recovered