I am obligated to tell you that I do not care

But I am also obligated to tell you the truth

So I guess I cannot ignore that last statement

Can obligations also be lies?

Are we always obligated to be happy?

Are we always obligated to be truthful?

I am honestly asking

I also feel obligated to tell you about the dark planet

The one everyone has been talking about

It is inherently beautiful, though also inherently devoid of life

Except for the prisoners

The vast planet has a core of molten copper

That, when struck by our own Sun’s now weak rays, glows a reddish orange

The reason it glows that reddish orange is because there is no land

This planet is an entity of water

No tides because there is no shore

No tsunamis because there are no earthquakes

No peaceful waves because there is no one to know what peace is

Mere miles upon miles upon miles of endless dark, clear water

With a metal ball at its very center

The residents of this planet know no such thing as love

Criminals of a forgotten race, they reside below the waves

Chained to the copper core by steel that never rusts

Chained so long they have stopped struggling

Most are dead

Given up entirely after one too many water filled decades

It is true what they say about living without hope

You die quickly

I feel obligated to tell their story

The story of how freedom is so close, yet so far away from them

Their bleeding gills allow them to breathe the salt water with pain

But that is no way to live

There is a way to leave

If they were to simply open their mouths

And sing a verse so beautiful it makes their goddess shed a tear

Then they would be free

If it were only that simple

For not only do they have to sing to a long dead goddess

But they have to make her cry before their mouths and lungs fill with toxic abandon

And they choke to death

I wonder what they think

How the ones with life in their gills continue on

I wonder if they feel that they have an obligation to do so

An obligation to themselves or maybe some long dead goddess

Or an obligation to that fiery core they are chained to

I wonder what they did to deserve a punishment so heart stopping

I wonder what their ideals of cruel and unusual punishments were

I wonder if they had ideals or laws at all

I wonder if they had gardens and lawns and house owner’s associations

I am obligated to tell you that I do not care

But is that the truth?

I wonder what the dark planet coming here even means

Or why I have this obligation to tell you this

Tell you about them

After all, do we have obligations to the dead?