Oxygen

It’s all we need to breathe.

But being able to say the word “oxygen” is perhaps,

The truest form of novelty.

Oxygen is a light molecule with a light composition,

But the weight to its name outweighs its dainty disposition.

The word oxygen itself is a child of history,

Scientific literacy,

Evolution, water, life, an ingredient to possibilities.

 

But imagine a world where its name was forbidden,

Because the way it defined life was contradictory to doctrine.

 

Believe for a moment that oxygen did not exist,

Believe for a moment that oxygen does not exist,

Because with age comes……

Forgetfulness

So this suffocating silence slowly slaughters society,

Words like oxygen, erased, because of their flammable notoriety,

And so express your depressed oppression with this breath of air

Whatever you’re breathing in doesn’t matter,

You don’t care.

And all you can do is appreciate a vacancy,

No questions no protests,

No frustrations or pain,

No way to combust or burst into flames,

Because you can’t exactly articulate into words

What you need to say:

What is oxygen?

 

You can recall a time when things were supposed to be better,

Where speaking felt lighter and water felt wetter,

You’re missing 21% of what you breathe,

And 88% of what you drink,

Weak lungs, dry mouth,

Can’t speak, can’t think.

They starve you of your individualism and dehydrate your mind,

Just listen they say

Listen: "it's fine".

 

Sometimes you hear others talk,

About something refreshing,

Something rich and fulfilling,

Something not worth forgetting,

But here, speaking is sinful,

So those voices must be nothing,

And the toxic air makes your body start rotting.

 

So they tell you: "Believe for a moment that you are not alone,

Because all is more than one, and one is less than all,"

And so your speculative eyes look to the sea

The water reflects the people who look exactly like you

“We”

And for the first time you realize,

That you’ve been all alone.

You’re face, sunken in,

No flesh,

Just bone.

 

And all around you,

You see a reflection of yourself.

Sadness, poverty, age,

“Unity is wealth.”

 

Across to your side is a light twig and a branch,

And in your island of doubt you start tracing the sand,

You remember some letters and you draw a round shape,

An X, and a Y, but the ocean washes it away.

Thoughts encroach your mind as you watch your work fade

You don’t think you need help, so you toss the branch away,

The SOS never reaches fruition.

The OXYGEN is never recalled.

So you turn to Big Brother

He tells you “One is less than all.”

 

All I need is the liberty to speak and to criticize,

The liberty to say words that come to my mind.

This taste of oxygen is the flavor of freedom,

So let this criticism of communism,

And denial of free speech,

Show you that:

Knowing the word oxygen might be

Knowing the word: free.