Field of Death

Next to the fields of wheat and corn, the vineyards laden with ripening grapes, the manicured walnut groves, and the plums, pears, peaches and figs that hang from the trees that surround us, this vile crop is reaching maturity under the late summer sun. Soon the farmer will come and cut it down to hang the leaves in long rows under curved plastic roofs till they wither and turn brown. Then they will be sold to manufacturers who will turn them into the toxic white tubes that bring death to millions around the world. It is, of course, tobacco. What a tragic waste of a good fertile field.