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Eric Obame Meek There is no air up there String theorists say there are eleven dimensions And possibly an infinite number of universes Some could be parallel to ours Like celebrity look-a-likes Similar at first glance, but odd on closer inspection I imagine different versions of me, or maybe I don't exist in them The math works, if you can follow it 11 dimensions -- an infinity of universes And none of it has anything to do with me There is no air up there Blood boils from the lack of gravity As I live, Earth rotates as fast as a jet flies But I cannot feel it Our sister planets spin around the sun without our push in their own tracks There are more than a hundred billion stars -- perhaps 500 billion In our neighborhood, the Milky Way And our house with its eight additions And those last weird little add-ons is nothing special Other homes in our neighborhood have additions too More than 100 billion stars on our corner At least 100 billion galaxies occupy our nation universe A 1 with many zeroes behind it is the number of possible planets And none of them have anything to do with me I am made of the Earth And the Earth is made of the stars And the stars are made of other stars Perhaps from matter born in other dimensions It has been said that black holes are tunnels to other universes And none of that has anything to do with me I am human There is no air up there for me to breathe The universe is not for my use Emergency Room I would rather be lying on a bed of broken glass My head resting on a pillow of rusted nails Eyes wide open I see nothing I scream No sound I am falling, floating, going up and away, moving sideways, standing still I don't know No point of reference No time Just blackness all around me It engulfs me Blinds me Everything is black There is nothing No light Nothing solid Just black I am trapped in a fucking color ©2007 by Eric Obame Eric Obame was born in Africa and raised in Europe for a good part of his childhood. His family came here when he was nine, and he has lived here ever since. He started writing poems in college, but the writing bug bit him after graduation. He received his Master's at Towson University in Maryland, where he majored in film. He has written three scripts, The World After, Seven Souls, and Boy Apocalypse, and is now working on Rise Icarus. Although he loves movies, he is also fond of poetry. His poems have been published in various journals, magazines, and on the Internet.

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