This is one of my darker posts. And for a good reason. Please read through to the end. A true story.
He said he would kill them
In his time, in his way
And yet they let him stay
Even before they loved each other
They loved him
Faithfully and steadfastly
And when they married
He moved in with them
Years fell away
They had children
Dreamed dreams
Lost their dreams
Then found them again
Aged a little
And aged a little more
They shared everything with him
Everything
Yet he never ceased to whisper,
“One day I will kill you”
By now it seemed a carnal jest
A monkeyshine
And then he killed the man
The woman was gutted, emptied
The man had been everything to her
“Not you!” she screamed,
“It was never you I loved!”
And yet she let him stay
A generation passed
Before she found the courage
To make him leave
When she did, he said,
“Did you think it would matter?”
Eight more years passed
And then suddenly and without warning
He came to fulfill his promise
“Why did you wait until now?” she whispered
“Wait?” he said
“My dear,
I began killing you
The day we met”
He stayed till the end
Not because he loved her
But because he wanted to watch
Cigarette smoking kills six million people every year. It is the most preventable cause of death in the world. It killed both of my grandfathers. It killed my mother and my father, too. It was they who inspired this story. She was 69. He was 45. I will miss them forever.
I will not miss their illicit lover.
Sigh. 🙁 I was expecting alcohol, and they often go together. Or it can be prescription drugs. Or food addiction. We can ruin our health in so many ways.
We can indeed.
It killed my father at age 69. His last years were spent in misery as he gasped for each breath. He had begun smoking down on the farm in 1914 at age 11 because it was cool. I had a close teen friend in the 1950s who used to laugh as he lit up and say, “Here’s another nail in my coffin.” He laughed!
Yeah, my generation was the first to start turning away from cigarettes. I still remember the “smoking is not glamorous” posters in our high school rooms. Sadly, teens are now starting to vape in large numbers.
Wow. Excellent. Thank-you.
Thank you.
How sad. When I volunteered at a hospital to sing to the cancer patients, I was asked to sing at the bedside of a woman dying of lung cancer. It was so painful to watch, and I found myself wishing that my middle school and high school students who flirted with smoking could spend fifteen minutes in the room with this family I was thinking it would probably give them nightmares, but they would never light up again.
This is very well written, Mitch. Have you sent it to the American Cancer Society?
No, hadn’t thought to. Do you know who or where I should do that?
As you once told me, “That’s why God created Google.” 😉
I would write or email their headquarters, maybe their P.R. department. I’m thinking whoever opens it will know who should get it and forward it accordingly.
… said the lady still procrastinating on getting her blog “The Friends I Didn’t Know I Had” (July 13) to the American Red Cross. :/
Thanks!
This was intense and accurate. Great work.
Thank you, John.
So sad Mitch. You lost them way too young. This piece really kicks, stays on your mind.
Thanks, Colleen.
My mother was only 54. Great post, Mitch. God bless!
So sorry to hear that, Nancy. And may God bless you, as well.
Oooooh chilling. I am so sorry you lost your parents to this. 🙁
Thank you, MB.
I had no idea where this was going but I had total faith that it was a message that needed to be heard. It surely is. It must have been painful to write. I am so sorry for your losses.
Thank you, Sarah.
I have never seen a point more powerfully made.
Thank you, Joan.
This is so powerful, Mitch. I didn’t know how it would end and it ended with a punch! Wow…. Well done! <3
Thank you, Penny.
Wow. Powerful stuff.
Thanks, Russ.
Excellent poem. Yes I hate that lover as well. It took many members of my parents generation and some of mine but a little less. My children’s generation think they are doing better with vapor but it still is causing issues. I have never understood the desire to inhale damaging air.
Indeed, Anita. I understand that smoking, in the form of vaping, is going up dramatically among teenagers for the first time in decades.
Even thought they are age requirements for buying. and studies are showing other concerns from them.
Wow, thanks for composing and sharing this.
Amazing post!
Yes, it was dark, but oh so real. Well written and well said.
I am sorry for your loss! Cigarettes are lethal.
Thank you Mitch. I’m going through the quitting smoking thing right now and I need all the reminders I can get. I know I’m doing the right thing (and have wanted to for a long time) but nicotine addiction is a nagging demon that makes quitting a struggle. My Dad passed from a smoking related illness but he used to tell me he was only hurting himself. Unfortunately, his loss hurt the people that loved him. I miss him every day. I remember that when I look at my family today. Thanks again!
I appreciate your openness, Gregory. Praying for you.
Reblogged this on What's Next: Behind Roo's Ruse and commented:
Another example of the mastery of Mitch Teemley:
Honored, Roo.
This is brilliant. Working in healthcare I have witnessed many victims. So sorry for your losses though. I pray others heed this warning.
Me too, Lilka. Blessings in your outreach.
Great message, and well written, of course!
Thank you, Kevin.
I was there and found the way out. we will never gain back the loss. We have an opportunity build on the shaky base.
This hit home. Both my parents smoked but stopped when I was about 6 ( mother) and 10 ( father). 18 years later my mom started smoking again to lose weight. Dad had started again a few years before. On Mother’s Day i went by their home to give her a gift and dad brought her out of their bedroom and she was walking like a marionette. She’d begun having headaches weeks before . The next day she was having surgery for a brain tumor. She died 6 weeks later at the age of 52. I was 29, my sisters were 28 and 24 and my brother was almost 8 ! She only got to meet 2 of what became 11 grandchildren and none of her 14 great grandchildren. I raised my brother til he was 21 so she missed him growing up. My dad died in 1994 of who knows what but all smoking related and missed a lot too. All For a cigarette . And the worst thing is my brother doesn’t really remember a mother who loved him and would have done anything for him except Not smoke….
Heartbreaking, Susie.
This was so sad, and yet also very powerful, Mitch. Made all the more so because you lost your loved ones to the smoking habit. I’m old enough to remember when people didn’t think smoking was dangerous, but everyone knows better now. And yet I still see young people smoking. It’s horrible…. And I’m so sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Ann.
It is very heartbreaking story. Losing parents must be so difficult. So sorry for your losses. cigarettes is silent killer and unfortunately is the causes of many deaths. Stay strong!!!
Thank you. You too!
Dark. And real. Very well written.
Thank you.
How powerful.
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. Sending strength your way to cope ❤.
Thanks, Sulaiman.
I’m with Sulaiman, above: a powerful post, Mitch. May it reach the inboxes of those who are ready to get rid of THEIR illicit lover.
Thanks, Nancy. And amen.
My dad’s brothers and sisters and my grandfather smoked. The average age at death was 55.
Eye-opening number, Lloyd. How many deaths back then were related to smoking, but unattributed?
It’s anyone’s guess I suppose.
Yes, read it completely now. Plus I will have to go to some sort of therapy after this whole read.
A powerful read for sure. A good read, enjoyed it very much.
Thanks, Charly. Tough road ahead, I know. But it’s worth it!
Wow Mitch! I hate that smoking killed your parents too (my dad died of lung/throat cancer). However, this poem is very well written and compelling. I kept reading to the end to find out who they’d willingly invited into their homes, knowing “he” would kill. Very poignant.
Thank you, K.E. And sorry to hear about your father, as well.
Reblogged this on opensenseme.
Honored.
Just ran into this: https://richardhoffman.org/2018/01/28/addiction-kills-period/
Thought of you, and of this post, and thought you would appreciate it. Alas.
Read it. Very powerful piece. Thank you!
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