He was the brightest of the lot
envied by his peers
abhorred by the dorks
for he could spell maths in his dream
science was his favorite
a whiz kid never before seen

He spoke with elegance
wore myriad skills on his arms
excelled in school challenges
never desired anyone harm

While knowledge was his friend
he was born introvert
he didn’t have the suave
to be considered for the cool kids’ club

So, he remained upset
and always appeared gloom
despite his innate skills
his social life was doomed

He wanted resurrection
he longed for respite,
he was tired of being called
the leader of the nerds

He expressed his stigma
to an acquaintance he knew
expressed his eagerness
to be part of the group

The person he knew
was a born rogue
he pulled him
into the dark side of the world

To be part of the clan
he had to behave like one of them
a few puffs of weeds
was all he was asked to do

He thought it was just a few drags
how would it harm
if others had so far not withered
let him use it as a ticket to gain some charm

All his principles, his goodness
had gone out the door
the day he took
the first puff of dope

Sure, he got the ticket
he so dearly longed
but in the process
he got himself wronged

Few puffs turned to
many doses a day
his life was in smokes
addiction soon dragged him away

The innocent good student
the shimmering bright future
the doting aspirations
all sadly came to a tragic end.

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This poem is written in response to the ‘Freedom of Expression Tag | Topic – Weed’ for which I was nominated by Jaya

Jaya, thank you for recommending me. It was a great topic to write, something I feel strongly about. I appreciate you keeping me on your mind.

Copyright © Shantanu Baruah

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