Smoking

[clion]

TOBACCO JOY.

Ah! Sweet tobacco, sheer delight,
a good companion since I was young.
From first taste at the age of ten
I am held in enchantment of its joy since then.

In the media are often heard and seen,
honest spokesmen who do not indulge,
argue the case for the civil right
to smoke where ever, day or night.

And the protagonists who sit on companies’ boards,
are shamefully accused of gaining hoards
from supplying tobacco to the poor and young
that they as well, can join the fun.

It has been obvious all along,
that the medical evidence is frankly, wrong.
Because smoking may cause an irritating cough,
the Nanny State would warn us off.

In restaurants my drifting smoke is not considered rude,
patrons happily all agree, it complements the food.
Decorative, ample ashtrays are freely provided too
to maintain pristine conditions and hold the smokers’ residue.

Waving a slender cigarette, I feel chic and smart
Imagining myself an actor, playing the tough-guy leading part.
But now and then worryingly, my cough brings up some blood.
I will have my doctor cure it soon, lest it becomes a flood.

I shall draw upon the delicious cigarette,
to the last fragrant tasting one I get
despite the malignant tumour growth,
that is said could grow in my vulnerable throat.

When I attend the practice of my zealous, smart GP,
his medical team, as one voice, blame the state of my failing health on me.
Saying that smoking increases risk of a multitude of cancer,
and the immediate cessation of the habit is the only prudent answer.

Burning tobacco releases poison compounds in a flood
inhibiting Haemoglobin delivering Oxygen by the blood.
Tar, Nicotine and Arsenic a deadly mix as well,
is a curse upon humanity, an evil brew of Hell.

I would yet sing tobacco’s praise to Heaven
and thunderous hallelujahs shout
had the surgeons at the hospital
not cut my cancerous voice box out.

I feel though that the Tobacco Company’s chairman,
will come to say a fond goodbye
when the time arrives of abandoned hope
and I must painfully, submit to die.