O2

O2 flies into my nostrils

bringing freshness,
energy, the feeling of joy,
the joy of living…

Then it flies out my nostrils again.
I can see it’s holding something:
O2 took one of the carbon atoms I ate earlier,
O2 loves them.
Every time O2 visits, it always takes one.

Now the whole room is full of O2s holding carbon.
I wonder what they’re waiting for.
No one wants to drop their C atom.

Oops I’m getting dizzy,
I need to breathe.

I open the window,
and there they go, all flying away,
taking their souvenirs with them.

I look out the window,
try to see where they’re going.
They flutter around a tree…
they sit on its leaves…
and fall asleep like babies.

In their sleep they drop their carbons.
The leaves grab them before they fall,
and eat them
-just like I ate my sandwich-
in the same manner.

When O2 wakes up,
it can’t find its carbon anywhere.

O2 flies then into my nostrils again,
in search of a new one to hold…

Nieve Andrea, Dec 2015