Plague Poems – The Ninety-Eighth Week
If they came to us
and said the plague would end
in thirty-six days
or in four months
we would be able to manage
days could be counted down
black Xs drawn on the calendar
it would be difficult
but with a visible end
we could be patient
it is the not knowing
that we cannot endure.
*
The time you lost
will not be returned to you
the value of sacrifices you made
does not appear in your account
your anger and frustration
are not without justification
but, please, a little perspective
the catastrophe is not
that you lost time
it is how many
lives we are losing.
*
When the pandemic began
we believed
that we would emerge from it
older and wiser
older and wiser than we were
when the pandemic began
though we have yet
to emerge from it
we are already older
much older than we were
when the pandemic began
and yet
we have only become less wise.
*
When the virus spreads
don’t worry
you know you’ll be fine
anyways, you’re done with it.
When deaths mount
don’t worry
it wasn’t anyone you knew
besides, you’re done with it.
When your empathy is gone
don’t worry
defiance can mask how
you’ve been undone by it.
*
Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between January 23, 2022 and January 28, 2022.
They were initially posted online on Twitter at @plaguepoems and Instagram at @plague_poems.
Throughout the duration of this crisis new poems will be posted regularly at that Twitter account, they will then be collected and reposted here in weekly increments.
*
It is just too much
we are simply overwhelmed
living during it
is quite bad enough
without being expected
to constantly think about it
we will have plenty of time
to reflect on the pandemic
once it is safely behind us
at which point
we will be ready
to only look straight ahead.
*
When we walk by each other
I will not be offended
if you do not recognize me
we can laugh about it
blaming masks and foggy glasses
(besides, it has been so long
since we’ve seen each other)
do not worry
I will not be offened
at this point in the pandemic
I barely recognize myself.
*
At times
when I write these lines
I worry that I am repeating myself
saying again what I had said
a few months or a year ago
slightly different words
but an echo of a previous thought
please forgive my repetition
it is just that this disaster
keeps repeating as well.
*
Rescue the mouse
from your cat’s jaws
and place it in the grass outside
this will not change anything
this will not truly matter
cats catch mice
that’s just the way it goes
but you are already surrounded
by so much death and suffering
so you might as well try
to rescue the mouse.
*
That you
are done
with the pandemic
does not mean
that the pandemic
is done
with you.
*
No doctors will say
that cruelty
is a comorbidity
it is not listed as an ailment
in medical texts, medical schools
do not lecture on it
surgeons are not trained
on extracting it from bodies,
doctors will not say cruelty
is a comorbidity
yet it is a condition
that leads to death.
*
Listen, you must
take better care of yourself
go to bed at a decent hour
wash your face and hair
eat enough calories
cut back on the alcohol
get your steps in
drink plenty of water
stimulate your mind
and when these actions
do not banish your despair
remember
you’re in a pandemic.
*
Keep your mind clear
of binary thinking
that either or framing
is confusion masked as clarity
either vaccinated or unvaccinated
either conspiratorial or informed
either at-risk or relatively safe
we are not divided by
an either or
for we are all here together
in the plague times.
*
How annoying are those
who still insist
on wearing masks
on staying in
on minimizing contact
on taking precautions
how dare those insufferable worriers
with their unacceptable audacity
remind the rest of us
that the pandemic has not ended.
*
If you had an atlas
of places that do not exist
you could turn its pages
and picture yourself strolling
through the streets
of Atlantis and Erewhon
of Cockaigne and Wonderland
and if you were to turn to its index
somewhere between
Neverland and Oz
you would find the entry
for Normal.
*
It is not so bad
to be alone
an empty home
is one in which you can pace
solitude ensures
no one will interrupt your work
with a kiss or offer of tea
unseen by others
you need perform for no one
truly, it is not so bad
to be alone
but I am never alone
the plague is always with me.
*
Do not leave the task
of remembering
to the historians
they will do it, it is their job
they will sit in the archives
they will write the books
they will give the lectures
but remembering
is not a task that can be left
to the historians
for you are obligated
to remember as well.
*
The barbarity
is not that we still
write peoms
after Auschwitz
but that we still
write poems
as if Auschwitz
never happened.
*
To live is to risk
cars crash
bridges collapse
viruses spread
bikes get hit
meals are undercooked
buildings catch fire
every step you take
at home or outside
is dogged by hazards
to live is to risk
though it is certainly easier
when you can afford
to choose
which risks to take.
*
Bridges collapse
but not every day
so when they do
we ogle the images
of broken concrete
of snapped metal
of bright red sirens
and if any lives are lost
we sympathetically shudder
for it is not deaths
from bridge collapses
to which we have become
so calmly accustomed.
*
It is said
that fear
will slow your progress
that fear
will hold you in place
that fear
will sap you of your vitality
that fear
is the enemy of life.
Yes, of course,
fear is harmful
but the problem is not
that we
are living in fear, but
that we
are still living in a pandemic.
*
*
About Z.M.L
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