The soul is left exposed to silent thieves,
When ignorance a fragile fabric weaves.
To guard the mind from being stripped and bare,
We must seek truth and dedication there;
For learning is the shield, the grand design,
To lift the soul and make our status shine.
Yet many build a dark, self-made decay,
And throw the gifts of intellect away.
Within the smoke where silent poisons breed,
A tragic harvest grows from bitter seed:
The snarl-up of the heart, thrombosis deep,
Where narrowed paths their painful secrets keep.
The throat, the tongue, the larynx, and the lung,
Are choked by shadows where the ash is swung.
With emphysema thinning breathing walls,
And chronic phlegm that darkens inner halls.
The senses fade, the taste and smell grow weak,
The reflexes grow slow, the outlook bleak.
An ulcer burns, refusing quick repair,
As poison hangs upon the clothes and air.
Yet heavier still the quiet, borrowed cost,
Where innocent and fragile lives are lost:
The unborn child who gasps before its breath,
The tender infant marked too soon by death,
And passive souls who breathe the crowded room,
Inhaling fifteen filters of their doom.
Across the globe, the fiscal shadows grow,
From Paris to Beijing the losses flow.
The taxpayers bear the weight of broken health,
As millions fade alongside wasted wealth;
Sixty million working days are thrown aside,
While through the veins, the darker currents glide.
For deep addiction leaves the spirit bound,
Where heart disease and leukemia are found,
Distorting life until the blood runs cold,
In miseries too heavy to be told.
But hope remains for those who turn away,
And leave the smoke to find a clearer day.
To choose the light, to let the spirit rise,
And cast aside the self-inflicted lies.
Through education’s clear and noble grace,
We mend the broken fabric of our race.
