Plague Poems – The Two-Hundred-and-Twenty-Third Week

We laugh
at horror movies
for being unrealistic,
faced with so many
clear signs
of the dangers ahead
how unbelievable it is
that the characters
so blithely proceed
yes, we laugh,
at those doomed fools
while ignoring the many
clear signs
of the dangers ahead of
(and all around) us.

Six months into the year
and already in the US
more than 3.4 million
cases of COVID
have been reported,
which may sound terrible
but keep in mind
that number does not include
the cases of “weird flu,”
“unending cold,” or the other
things we say we have
to keep from saying COVID.

The article explained
that “the milk
from infectious cows
is likely being mixed with milk
from healthy cows,
diluting the virus…
making it less likely to survive”
and as I read and reread those words
I had to remind myself
they were meant to be reassuring.

Warning
that Long Covid
may eventually affect
most Americans
the doctor said “we’re slowly
debilitating a generation”
but I’ve seen what this virus
does to Boomers and Xers
Millennials and Gen Z
so I fear it’s not that we
are “debilitating a generation”
but generations.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between June 15, 2024 and June 21, 2024.

They were initially posted online on X/Twitter at @plaguepoems, on Mastodon at @plaguepoems@mastodon.social, on Bluesky at @plaguepoems, on Threads at @plague_poems, and on Instagram at @plague_poems.

Throughout the duration of this crisis new poems will be posted regularly at the above mentioned accounts, they will then be collected and reposted here as weekly compendiums.

The experience of COVID
has prepared us for H5N1,
so says the CDC,
there are tests, antivirals,
and “vaccine candidates
waiting in the wings”
we are ready to apply
COVID’s lessons,
and clearly we have learned
that one way
to keep things from looking bad
is to not bother looking.

When I mention
the extreme heat
my brother-in-law
rolls his eyes and says
“it’s called summer”
and then he proceeds
to lament the seasonal flu
he and his friends just can’t shake
and though I say nothing
I am tempted to say
“it thought it was summer.”

With definitive certainty
the headline stated:
“Yes,
Everyone Really Is Sick
a Lot More Often
After Covid”
though if you are trying
to understand
why this is the case
it helps to recognize
that at the moment
we are not “After Covid,”
we are still during Covid.

They’re just making room
for sunscreen and bug spray
yes, it’s summer now,
so they’re just making room
for sunscreen and bug spray,
at least this is what
I keep telling myself
as I look at the shelves
in the cold and flu section
of the pharmacy
and wonder why they’re so empty.

When you see the headlines
anxiously wondering
why hospital admissions
are rising in some countries,
why wastewater levels
are rising in some regions,
why the case numbers
are rising in some states,
just remember
the pandemic isn’t over
and that’s why.

Asked about the potential
of a bird flu pandemic
a former head
of the CDC replied:
“It’s not a question
of if,
it’s more of a question
of when”
and I just wish
we were doing more
to prove him wrong.

You must remember
to look beyond the headline
it is horrifying to read:
“COVID deaths:
more than 10 million children
lost a parent or carer”
but if you remember
to look beyond the headline
you will discover
that it is from 2022,
so it is worse now,
god damn, it is even worse now.

If you ask me
“were you like this
before the pandemic?”
I will be honest with you
and respond that no
I was not like this
before the pandemic,
for you see
before the pandemic
I truly believed
(I foolishly believed)
that in the face of catastrophe
we would stand together.

You’ve probably seen the reports
that say 10-20% of those
infected with Covid
develop long Covid,
but if that sounds high to you
do not ask yourself
how many people you know
with long Covid,
ask yourself
how many people you know
who quietly say
they don’t feel like they used to.

We all know
the term “biweekly”
(as in biweekly meeting)
can denote something that happens
every other week
or twice a week,
and here in this pandemic
it seems the term “seasonal”
(as in seasonal wave)
now denotes something that happens
only in certain seasons
or in every season.

The summer heat
is much too hot
and wearing a mask
will only make you hotter
yes, wearing a mask,
will only make you hotter,
but keep things in perspective
that is still much better
than winding up with a fever
in this summer heat.

This virus damages
taste
so maybe that is why
everything tastes bitter.

This virus damages
smell
so maybe that is why
we smell smoke.

This virus damages
vision
so maybe that is why
we don’t see each other.

This virus damages
the heart
so maybe that is why
we have become so numb.

After reading the headline:
“Infectious bird flu
survived
milk pasteurization”
I have decided
that for the foreseeable future
I am going to try to
survive
without milk.

I though
I’d heard them all,
every single term
people used to describe
how what they are sick with
is something other than the virus
yes, I thought
I’d heard them all,
but I just heard someone
describe their sickness
as “air-conditioner cold”
so I’ll add that one to the list.

I had always heard
that someday
the meek will inherit the earth
but I often worry
that the powerful
have heard this as well
and so they’re ensuring
that there won’t be much left
for the meek to inherit.

When the old punk told me
about the importance
of saving for retirement,
I replied that it’s pointless
everything will have collapsed
long before I can retire,
and instead of sadly laughing
the old punk said:
in the dark times
it is a radical act
to still believe in a future.

Plague Poems…the first week

Plague Poems…the full list

About Z.M.L

“I do not believe that things will turn out well, but the idea that they might is of decisive importance.” – Max Horkheimer librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com @libshipwreck

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