poem “shared air”, a poem trying to prove if you may come in contact with molecules others famous people breathed in the past, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers (wrapped in VHS tape) in her 8/14/15 show “Farewell Chicago” in her final scheduled feature at Poetry’s “Love Letter” (while living in Chicago) in Chicago (Canon Power Shot), with her poems Chicago, Breaking Their Heart, change (2015 edit), Planting Palm Tree Seeds, Shared Air, Other Souls, and ever leave me.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers (wrapped in VHS tape) in her 8/14/15 show “Farewell Chicago” in her final scheduled feature at Poetry’s “Love Letter” (while living in Chicago) in Chicago (Canon fs200), with her poems Chicago, Breaking Their Heart, change (2015 edit), Planting Palm Tree Seeds, Shared Air, Other Souls, and ever leave me.

Download poems in the free chapbook
Farewell Chicago

of this & other poems read 8/14/15 at a live Chicago show

See YouTube video
of Janet Kuypers reading her poem Shared Air(Cfs) 9/30/15 at Chicago’s Poetry At The Gallery Cabaret

See YouTube video
of Janet Kuypers reading her poem Shared Air (Cps) 9/30/15 at Chicago’s Poetry At The Gallery Cabaret

See YouTube video 6/10/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 poems Questions and Tension, Shared Air & Us, Actually Touching at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s (filmed from a Canon Power Shot camera).

See YouTube video 6/10/16 of Janet Kuypers reading her 3 poems Questions and Tension, Shared Air & Us, Actually Touching at Georgetown’s Poetry Plus open mic at Cianfrani’s (video filmed from a Sony camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “On the Bridge” from her 2018 full-color full-bleed photography (+ select poems) book “Antarctica: Wildlife”, then her poem “Human Construct of Time” from the cc&d 6/11 v233 bonus anniversary book “Sea Drift”, then her poem “Shared Air” from the cc&d 7 & 8 2017 v264 book “Being Real” at “Spoken and Heard” 7/29/18 (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “On the Bridge” from her 2018 full-color full-bleed photography (+ select poems) book “Antarctica: Wildlife”, then her poem “Human Construct of Time” from the cc&d 6/11 v233 bonus anniversary book “Sea Drift”, then her poem “Shared Air” from the cc&d 7 & 8 2017 v264 book “Being Real” at “Spoken and Heard” 7/29/18 (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

shared air
Janet Kuypers
(started 7/20/15, finished 7/21/15)
I’ve heard the buzz before,
that we could be breathing
the same molecules breathed
in Julius Caesar’s last gasp.
Because he was breathing oxygen,
and molecules are constantly
rearranged and recycled.
It could happen.
*
But wait a minute -
why stop at just Julius?
Why not Cleopatra, or Caligula?
Why not Attila the Hun, or Adolph?
And why stop there?
We’ve shared the air
with the Dinosaurs
from T-Rex to Pterodactyls.
Someone out there
is even hoping a single
molecule they’ve breathed
was once in Jesus’ lungs.
Really.
Some people think this way.
And these people don’t want to admit
we share the air
with the homeless people
we avoid on the street.
So, fine. Figure this out,
and master the math. Because math
can prove what’s right or wrong,
and make the world crystal clear.
So some scientists
started coming up with numbers:
oxygen molecules in the atmosphere?
67, plus 48 zeros. (Wow. That’s a lot.)
So make some quick calculations.
Over an 80 year lifespan
(and Adolph Hitler, or even Caligula,
didn’t live close to that long) -
but over an eighty year lifespan
us humans only breathe point zero
zero zero (add 6 more zeros),
zero 1 percent
of all the oxygen atoms on Earth.
Because, you see,
with numbers that small
you can start to like math more,
because with how many
oxygen atoms are out there,
and how few oxygen atoms
on Earth we actually breathe,
statistically speaking, well, this
becomes the most pathetic way
to try to connect yourself
with anyone interesting in existence.
*
I’ve met a few famous people before,
and they each tried to say something funny,
and trust me, it really fell short,
so I made a point to get away.
Because it’s true, just because
they’re known, doesn’t mean
you should know them.
I don’t want to find
6 degrees of separation
between me and Kevin Bacon,
and I don’t want to know
if I’ve breathed Aristotle’s air.
‘Cause believe me, it might not be
the smartest idea
to spend your time fantasizing
that you’re linked by shared air to others.
Just be busy
being someone yourself,
and see others wasting their time
trying to link to you.

my hand to an anim of jkchair