The Submarine Is Running Out of Air

The submarine is running

Out of air

I haven’t told the crew

Because I’m not sure

How we can fix this

Problems have solutions

But every so often

A problem comes along

That does not have a solution
And when that happens

One has to wonder

What the wisdom would be

In alerting a lot of people

To the problem

The conventional way of thinking

Would be that the more people you alert

The more opportunities you have

To find a solution

Because you’ll have more brains

Working on it

But you’re also adding panic

More panic

To the situation

And I worry about that

I worry about the panic

That comes with transparency

Sometimes--

Do you have a moment?

I just need a moment

Before I go back to

Worrying about the air

Sometimes when people

Get in trouble

And it’s due to a lack

Of transparency

The presumption is

That the person is sinister

That they enjoy hiding things

Or they’re fearful of repercussions

For what they’re hiding

When sometimes--

And not often

But sometimes

Sometimes they know

That revealing things

Creates panic

And you don’t want panic

On a submarine

You don’t want panic anywhere

But you really don’t want it

On a submarine

Especially when you’re running

Out of air

Because panic sucks up

Every more air

And before you know it

Your effort to be forthright

Will have caused the problem

To exacerbate

And we don’t want that, do we?

I shouldn’t even be talking this loud

Somebody might hear me

How strange that we all might die

Of oxygen deprivation

On a submarine

While still staying completely dry

There’s no water coming in

And this vehicle is constructed so well

We may just sink to the bottom

Of the ocean

Once there’s nobody keeping us mobilized

But the sub might stay intact

So it’ll just be a submarine

Filled with skeletons eventually

Like something of a coffin

It’s almost romantic

If you think about it

Although I’d rather not

Because I’ll be one

Of the skeletons

I think about telling the story

As an outside narrator

And how if I were

An outside narrator

I’d be safe and sound

Feeling bad

For all those poor folks

On the submarine

That’s running out of air

Most of them won’t even know it

Until it’s too late

Because they’ll be asleep
And they’ll simply

Never wake up

I wonder if I could go to sleep

Just close my eyes

And wait for the inevitable

But, you see, I’ve always

Had trouble sleeping

And I’m not sure

If science tells us

That a lack of oxygen

Would help

I just don’t want

To gasp and grab

For air

Right before I die

I want to go quietly

Throughout my life

I’ve always

Valued

The quiet