Those who take their health for granted might well be disenchanted.

Caring for one’s body ma-chinery, more than a duty, is a priority.

Those who think differently should, more frequently, visit the sickly.

Bitten by the tiger mosquito, to hospital, my son, forcibly had to go.

His physical and psychological state, significantly affected by the malady,

He had to be taken care of professionally, not for long fortunately.

The hospital is the last place those who forget their fragility would wish to be.

Here, lay a man gnawed with cancer, his skin laid on his bones, sadly breathing in groans.

There, a mother attended to her crying baby, tortured with fever and many a blister.

Awaiting the outcome of delicate surgery, faces of family members betrayed deep anxiety.

On a trolley, pushed by a nurse, lay a corpse; here ended somebody’s course,

In spite of his purse, he could not escape humanity’s curse.

We can’t blame destiny for all our misfortunes.

The body is a machinery, doomed to fail eventually,

Yet, the later this could be is better than the sooner, we all agree!

Something is for sure, prevention is better than cure.

It’s better to be a user than an abuser.

Don’t be with your teeth your own gravedigger.

A heavy drinker is more likely to be unhealthy than he who drinks moderately,

He who lives his life on the tight rope, enjoys no hope for a future bright.

Sleep well today, so you won’t weep your health away.

The body has its way set by nature, you should never betray,

Lest you want to suffer the pain of being left on the way.

Caring for the environment, prevents from many a torment.

Regular health screenings, cater for better health,

Help fine-tune the human machinery

And identify some deadly bugs growing in stealth,

Waiting to strike without remission

Unless doctors timely take the right action.

Health is not for trade, lest in slime you want to wade

Time and money won’t buy a healthy body,

Health is wealth, look around and you will see.

<B>By Alain Jeannot</B>