Pay - For Air -- Are You Kidding

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PAY - for AIR...are You Kidding? My wife and I, when we were kids, watched television programs, including movies, never being made to pay a dime. That was in the fifties, when a lot of things were free. Back when folks were kinder, in a far less greedy time. Filling stations offered air for free when we were youngsters. Now, in larger cities, there’s a charge for even that! And ads, of course, for puppies and for kittens still appear…but very few are free…so now, to own a dog or cat, Typically a person needs to search out shops and breeders, often pay a crazy price for what, for years, was free, Yet can’t - despite the cost - create a bond that can surpass the ones there were between my many freebie pets and me! I assert to you, my friend, that…not too long from now…breathing - without paying, will, I’m warning you…be theft! Justified by claiming that there has to be a charge, ‘cause - when it comes to air that’s safe to breathe - there’s little left! I’m not gonna argue that the air - in certain places - isn’t pretty boogered up, and “clean” is hard to find… But hopefully it’s gonna be at least a couple years before some wealthy jack-ass - who assumes we wouldn’t mind Mandatorily paying him for “de-polluting” air - claims he’s purchased all the rights to what it is we breathe, And charges every man on earth for every breath he takes! That, I’ll bet, would even make environmentalists seethe. But just in case it’s possible for some disgusting wiener to somehow find a way to purchase all the rights to “AIR,” I’ve been stashing small amounts as - oxygen reserves, and - though it isn’t likely that it ever will be rare - Running ads to purchase mounted tires - if they’re full - and robbing ones - that are not flat - from old abandoned cars. I’m also sealing trace amounts in empty plastic bottles found along the roadsides and, of course, outside o’ bars! This way…if the day should come when air’s no longer free…and every man alive is made to pay for every breath… Even if I’m broke, at least I’ll have a small supply, hidden somewhere, just for me, to help delay my death! PS: I've now got 4 new Audio-CDs - @ 4 1/2 hours each = (62 diversely varied pieces). They’re listed on EBAY - under - “Mark Stellinga Poetry” - or available by simply contacting me at -- mark@writerofbooks.com -- should those of you who enjoy listening to poems as well as reading them - and particularly those of you that travel - care to be so entertained. (We use safe and simple - PayPal) Cheers, Mark

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