THE COST OF GAS

We live as ingrates as we toil on daily,

Never could anyone negotiate with nature,

The cost of our breathing gas,

Neither has it been measured for the free man on the street,

Yet no one cares about the cost of gas.

In billions we are scattered on the face of the earth,

Free gas for everyone to daily inhale,

We know no value of the measureless gas,

Yet no one seems to ask what the cost is.

Not until Mr. Somebody lies helpless in the ICU,

When his lungs could not tap from the free gas as others do,

The only means of survival is to buy the measured gas,

As human gadget aids his respiration,

Twenty-four hours gone past before his stability,

He could breathe now without the aid of a respiratory machine,

Then the doctor gave him a bill,

Just a ten thousand dollars for the gas

that was provided to sustain his life.

In tears he looked at the doctor,

Not because he couldn’t afford the bill,

(Of course, he is a very wealthy man),

The doctor inquire from him why the tears,

“I am seventy-four years old, all this while,

I have enjoyed the free breathing gas,

I had never taken any thought to ask,

About the cost of the gas I daily inhale,

Just in twenty-four hours, I have to pay ten thousand dollars,

If I were to pay for the ones I have inhaled in seventy-four years,

I would be dead by now.”

As Mr. Somebody muttered those words,

Rivers of water flow down his checks .

The story of Mr. Somebody sounds so casual,

But any of us could be in that situation,

As a matter of fact, many lie helplessly in the hospital,

Gasping for gas to live,

Many are paying millions of dollars to get what seems worthless to common healthy man on the street,

Can we just purse for a while,

To count the cost of our daily gas,

Should it be ceased for just a minute,

Billions will be laid in six feet below.

What is the cost of our breathing gas?

Could anyone out there quantify it with a price tag?

I guess none could get that done.

To the Creator of the universe,

To the Author of nature,

To the Almighty God who has fashioned the earth and it’s life supporting nature,

I am not ungrateful,

I know not the cost of the gas I breathe,

Even if I know, could I have ever afford paying for it?

Just for this reason oh God of all flesh,

I have come to appreciate your benevolence,

For giving me priceless fortune daily,

As I inhale freely without a cost.

As you read this lines of mine,

I guess you are also appreciating God,

For the free fortune of life you inhale freely.

Could you have ever afford the cost, if we all must pay for it?