Strike
flint on steel,
Make flame.
Light the
dry leaves,
Suck the smoke into lungs.
Tobacco is a treacherous weed,
Which does not get you high,
But just makes you need,
So ignite, inhale,
Repeat thirty times a day
For thirty years
Until eventually
You unchain yourself
From the treacherous weed,
But you cannot escape free
The cycle powering lungs
That once got you up
mountains,
Now won’t even let you reach
The end of the street
Unless you often stop
To wheeze, pant and cough.
And someone in Brazil
Flicks a thumb down,
Strikes flint on steel,
Makes flame.
Lights the dry leaves,
Burns a forest,
And this whole planet
Sucks the smoke into its lungs.
