City Moonscape

In the dream world, 
we colonize the moon.
We live on Planet B, C, and D. 
We colonize galaxies
with limited consequences. 

But in the real world, 
we live on Earth. 
We breath oxygen created by plants. 
We eat plant flesh, animal flesh, fish flesh, 
and berries, seeds, eggs, and milk from the above. 
All our food comes from this one planet. 
There is no Planet B.  

Science fiction dreamers of old
envisioned dystopian worlds without
plants. 
The lone traveller struggles to find food, 
companionship, and shelter. 
Or skyscrapers full of nature deprived humans and cyborgs
live on synthetic food and struggle with loneliness
and an existential longing to see long extinct animals.
However, there is a fatal flaw in both scenarios. 
Where does the oxygen come from? 

Without biodiversity, plants and animals struggle to survive. 
Without bees, very few plants can pollinate.
Without pollination, plants can’t reproduce, and species die out. 
Without plants, there’s nothing to breathe. 

City Moonscape

Plants convert energy from the sun and carbon dioxide into oxygen.
All other living things need oxygen to survive.
Even parts of plants need oxygen. 
Our dependence on Earth, our one option, 
goes beyond the need for food, water, and shelter.
The very air we breathe is dependent on 
the health of the planet. 
We are not just plant eaters, 
but plant breathers. 

Without plants and the atmosphere keeping the oxygen from escaping, we would live in a moonscape with nothing to breathe.