They Blamed the Volcano
by Anonymous
They stood in fire.
Lava bubbling, sulfur rising,
toxic air so thick it curled their speech.
And still—
a cigarette
burned at the lips
of a miner with no teeth.
They said:
“This place is deadly.”
“No one can survive this air.”
But the smoke didn’t rise from the earth—
it rose from human mouths.
They showed his gums,
his empty smile,
his breath that rattled
like rusted machinery.
They blamed the volcano.
But it wasn’t the ash
that stained his lungs—
it was the fire he lit
every day
in his own chest.
They blamed the mountain.
They ignored the match.
#SmokingKills