Light One Up! - pipTalk Forums

How to Join	Member's Area	Private Library	Search	Sanctuary		Login
Main Forums	Discussion	Tech Talk	Mature Content	Archives	A home without a wall, Our haven without ends, A circle we all call Our Family of Friends!

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

0 posted 2000-08-26 08:32 PM

Light One Up!

by

Michael Auguste

(My mother died in 1990 after losing her battle with emphysemia. It was a slow and painful process. Last year my little brother was diagnosed with lung cancer. They had to remove his right lung. Only the future will tell if they got it all. I wrote this poem for everyone's children that they may never have to know that kind of sadness in their lives. Please kids, don't smoke. It's not cool. It's stupid! You're all better than that!)

Twentyfive cents a day
Is what they used to cost
Not so much in money
But so much in human loss

The stench of them is death
The price now really high
They slowly steal your breath
The smoke will sting your eyes

Such clever ads they make
These things must be so cool
Busted in the bathroom
While partaking one at school

They took my mother's life
And now my brother's lung
They used such pretty women
To make profit off their dung

Light one up why don't you?
Suck in all that smoke
In the future you won't be here
And your family will be broke

They had to pay the doctor bills
And then the men who dug your grave
Because you lit that first one up
And forever became a slave

catalinamoon

Member Rara Avis

since 2000-06-03

Posts 9543
The Shores of Alone

1 posted 2000-08-26 09:21 PM

Michael, such an important message here. I have been fortunate not to lose a loved one to this yet, but both my mother and my daughter smoke, also my closest friend, and it terifies me to think of what could lie ahead. I wish this poem could be publicized on billboards throughout the country!
Catalinamoon

Kit McCallum

Administrator

Member Laureate

since 2000-04-30

Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada

2 posted 2000-08-26 09:25 PM

I'm so sorry for your loss of your mother Michael, and for your brother's situation. You've portrayed your message clearly through these tragic words ... very well written.

Best wishes,
/Kit

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

3 posted 2000-08-26 10:17 PM

catalinamoon,

Thanks for your reply. I try to educate my own child about the dangers of smoking and just hope it sinks in and he never starts. Take care and thanks for reading my poem.

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

4 posted 2000-08-26 11:02 PM

Kit,

I appreciate your kind words and I thank you for stopping by.

Michael

Marge Tindal

Member Empyrean

since 1999-11-06

Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores

5 posted 2000-08-26 11:10 PM

Michael~
A very poignant message.
Well stated with tenderness
and emphatic statements.
~*Marge*~

~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~
noles1@totcon.com

JnR4eva
Member

since 2000-08-07

Posts 377
Bronx, NY

6 posted 2000-08-27 02:29 AM

OH!!!

They had to pay the doctor bills
And then the men who dug your grave
Because you lit that first one up
And forever became a slave

...WHAT A FINISH!!!!! so strong and meaningful, and worst of all...SO TRUE!!

auguste you have penned a very powerful message here and i wish the best for your family..good luck and stay strong.

"my love is my motivation
my love is my inspiration
perception of this poem
is your interpretation"
-- rlt

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

7 posted 2000-08-27 03:32 AM

JnR4eva,

Thank you for your nice words. I wish, I hope, this message will stop young people from ever starting smoking...I know I'm only dreaming, but still, anything is worth a try...

Take care, and thank you for reading this.

Michael

But I am so like everyone And everyone is so like me
We cork our contents, lest they flee
Until our lives are spent and done

by Michael Auguste

sonjes
Senior Member

since 2000-02-18

Posts 564
North Carolina

8 posted 2000-08-27 05:08 PM

hmmm...as a smoker(leper) I can relate all too well to this...you have pasted an image in many people's minds with this that I hope, personally, they will not easily forget.
Well written Auguste...

Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence.
-Enigma

Meadowmuse
Member Elite

since 1999-12-27

Posts 3263

9 posted 2000-08-27 05:28 PM

Michael, the impact of this piece on the reader is most assuredly intense. Having never smoked, I don't know firsthand, physically, what the battle is like, but as you know, having lost my mother to lung cancer, I certainly do know firsthand emotionally the impact of the topic of your message.

Thank you, in earnest, for this.

~ Claire

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?......Henry David Thoreau

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

10 posted 2000-08-27 05:29 PM

Marge,

Thanks for responding to this unusual poem....also, enjoyed the mail earlier this morning. Take care, my friend, and all the best to you.

Michael

by Michael Auguste

"But I am so like everyone<br> And everyone is so like me
We cork our contents, lest they flee
Until our lives are spent

American Princess
Junior Member

since 2000-08-21

Posts 49
USA

11 posted 2000-08-27 06:27 PM

Michael,

Glad to see you share this important message with everyone.
Very well written as usual.

American Princess

English Rose
Member

since 2000-08-20

Posts 211
Berkshire, England

12 posted 2000-08-27 06:32 PM

Michael...sorry to hear of your family woes.
My husband is a smoker and I nag him relentlessly about giving up.
His mother went the same way as yours and yet he still choses to smoke....I think it dulls the brain somehow. Maybe I shall make him read this!!

Auguste

Member Elite

since 2000-02-16

Posts 3953
By the sea

13 posted 2000-08-27 07:45 PM

sonjes,

Yes, it's true, society now treats smokers as lepers...I remember not too many years ago when it seemed that eveyone smoked. I do so appreciate your repsonse and wish you my best.

Michael

by Michael Auguste

"But I am so like everyone<br> And everyone is so like me
We cork our contents, lest they flee
Until our lives are spent

	⇧ top of page ⇧
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.