I.
I went with great reluctance
To meet with the strange man
He promised to reveal to me
A visionary plan
Where all the worlds injustice
And unfair cruelty
Would all at once be wiped away
What martyrs we would be
The building with the pillars
That housed the books of old
Would teach me of the chemistry
And tools that I must hold
A simple drop of water
The liquid gift of life
When altered with a genius spark
Will then cut like a knife
II.
The formula was simple
The plan a noble one
But when I studied further
I found a smoking gun
This was no simple terror act
Not like the ones we'd seen
The horror in this formula
No one could even dream
An unleashed chain reaction
Would change all oxygen
And all that does contain it
Into O3 poison.
The air would be like fire
The water like a fuel
The world would choke and sputter
With no one left to rule
I'm sure that they can't know this
It cannot be their plan
There must be some mistake here
I have to find that man
But when I ran to catch him
To tell of what I'd found
A stranger barked, "Stop! F.B.I!"
And threw me to the ground
III.
I awoke in darkness
My head was wracked with pain
But the case had been mishandled
And I was on the street again
I ran home to my woman
To ask what should I do
She also turned against me
She thinks I'm evil too
It seems the man had been there
And asked where I might be
He thinks I turned against him
He saw them arrest me
I'm feeling so alone now
The urge to run and hide
And all this primal anger
Now festers deep inside
IV.
My family is doomed now
As far as I can tell
The new life I have come to love
About to end as well
What's left now is this question
I'm forced to wonder why…
Why should I let the whole world live?
When I myself must die.