Change
It would be great to talk with perfect comprehension
like thio-terpineol – an Augustan perfume.
Just a few parts per trillion in grapefruit,
one chemical of hundreds that form its fragrance.
All the world would get its scent
if just half a teaspoon suffused the atmosphere;
millions and millions of molecules fragrancing the world.
One atom changed, oxygen to sulphur and,
like one new idea, revolution runs through the air.
What word would I change so it would be perfect?
© Anthony Fisher January 2003
NB
In Roman times, the Augustans thought that it were possible to construct a speech so perfectly that it would be understood by all listeners in exactly the same way. Normally listeners would each have a different understanding of any speech.
Trillions in English are one million million.