I wake up coughing.
Even after the cough subsides
the acrid smell of smoke
burns my mouth, nose, throat.
I look up
at a sky filled with
churning mountains of black smoke.
I stand up
and look around.
I see blue skies
on the horizon behind me.
The sky above
and horizon before me
are jet black
with smoke so thick and wide
it looks like a storm front
moving in.
I’m standing in a field
up to my knees
in grass and wildflowers.
When I look forward
I see an asphalt road
stretching off into the distance.
There’s a white metal road sign
at the start of the road.
The sign has five words
in bold black letters.
“ONE DAY: Start of Emissions”
I start walking down the road.
On either side of me
I see a long row of houses
stretching off into the distance.
The size and style
of the houses vary
but they all have one thing in common.
Each house has
an Olympic-size swimming pool
in the front yard.
The swimming pools
are full of oil.
The oil is on fire.
I walk down the middle of the road
keeping as much distance as I can
between myself
and the thick columns of smoke
pouring into the sky
from the writhing infernos
scorching the land and air
for as far as the eye can see.
I keep walking
expecting it to end.
A few steps
a few yards
a few miles.
More houses
more swimming pools
full of burning oil.
I see families
gathered for cookouts
wearing star-spangled shirts and khakis
cooking burgers on grills
roasting marshmallows
over the open flames.
I see people in ragged clothes
wandering from pool to pool
warming their hands by the fire.
I see men in business suits
drinking champagne
as workers in denim overalls
roll wheelbarrows full of cash
into the men’s houses.
I see police in riot gear
chasing people with signs and banners
away from the pools
blasting them with water cannons
and chirping sound cannons
until they retreat down side streets.
I keep walking.
I walk through the hunger.
I walk through the thirst.
I walk until my knees buckle
and then I crawl
across the hot asphalt
until my hands are red and black
with blisters and tar.
With one hundred miles behind me
one hundred miles
of Olympic swimming pools
filled with burning oil
I finally see it.
There’s a white metal road sign
at the end of the road.
The sign has five words
in bold black letters.
“ONE DAY: End of Emissions”
This is it, then.
I’ve walked through
one day’s worth of
global oil consumption.
One hundred million barrels.
As I collapse
at the base of the sign
a single thought consumes my mind.
If this is how much oil
the world consumes
how much longer
can it go on?
And when will it end?
One day.
One day.
One day.