Please, do not smoke.

The following poem was inspired by the people I've seen outside the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and composed on the bus on the way home.

Please, do not smoke. It is simply vile.
Don't tell me you don't know what it does do your body;
Even my 10 year old brother knows.
You go to the gym, go on a diet, buy health foods, and complain about the city smog...
Don't do this to yourself. Please, just don't smoke.

You walk out of the hospital, and you want to light up.
Look behind you... nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiation therapists
Radiographers, sonographers, dieticians, counsellors,
Cardiologists, pulmonologists, hepatologists, oncologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons...
They all work long hours, on weekends, on call...
All to deal with the complications of your choices.
Have some respect for their work... please, don't smoke outside the hospital.

You are pregnant, a new life living inside of you
You are the picture of feminity, of hope, and of beauty, and you know it...
For your baby you take folate, vitamins, iron, iodine, calcium, magnesium, potassium
... Fish oil, raspberry leaf, and some Chinese herbal thing you don't recall the name of.
You daydream about your little bundle of joy... you wouldn't want anything to go wrong
So, please, don't smoke if you're pregnant.

You are a parent, and you finally understand your own parents
You make sure they are vaccinated against everything...
Diphtheria, Varicella, measles, mumps, rubella, polio...
Meningococcal C, Pneumococcus, Tetanus, Hep B, and H. influenzae B...
You drive them to soccer practice, to piano lessons,
You make sure they eat their veges, don't watch too much TV...
You wouldn't poison your children. So, please, don't smoke around the little ones.

Yes, I know it's hard to quit. But some things are harder to deal with
Like cancer, peptic ulcers, stroke, and rotten teeth...
... and living with only one leg.

Yes, I know Sharon Stone and Leonardo Di Caprio looked sexy in those movies with a cigarette
But, let's face it. They look sexy anyway.
As for you, my dear, you are not Sharon Stone, nor are you Leonardo Di Caprio,
And I will be quite frank, a cigarette... will not help that much, in your case.
So please, just don't smoke.

Lastly...
Don't smoke.
Don't smoke if you are just outside the hospital.
Don't smoke if you are pregnant.
Don't smoke if you have children.
And, if you are outside the hospital, and pregnant, with a young child...
... just don't do it.

QUITLINE: 131848

Inspired by a lady I saw outside the hospital, brandishing her baby bump with pride, holding the hand of a little girl, and a cigarette in the other hand.

I havn't written a poem since school. I hope this didn't bore you too much. At least it was fun to write, hehe