Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Third Week
All of the attention
on unidentified flying objects
is a pleasant distraction
from needing to think about
the airborne virus we’ve identified.
*
Where once images
of the cheering crowd
at an exciting event
filled me with a certain fear
that I was missing out
these days I find
that when I look at such images
I am relieved to be doing so
from the safety of my home.
*
We are terrified
that if aliens arrive
they might treat us
with as much cruelty
as we already show
towards one another.
*
I used to think
that disaster films
were too excessive
but between the plague
and the changing climate
and the sick birds
and the airborne toxic event
and the unidentified flying objects
I am starting to think
that disaster films
are not excessive enough.
*
Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between February 11, 2023 and February 17, 2023.
They were initially posted online on Twitter at @plaguepoems, on Mastodon at @plaguepoems@mastodon.social, 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.
*
If you cannot
smell the flowers
they have given to you
or taste the chocolates
from the big red box
it is probably wise
for you
to cancel your dinner reservation.
*
My friend sends a picture
of her hand
wearing a diamond ring
along with the words
“I said yes”
and though later I will worry
about what precautions
will be taken at their wedding
it is comforting
that even in a pandemic
some clichéd romantics
still get engaged on Valentine’s Day.
*
I did not buy you flowers
or chocolates
or jewelry
or anything risqué
my apologies
but as we are strangers
it would have been odd
had I expressed affection
through such gifts
but when you see me
please understand
that my masked face
is my way of telling you
that you are loved.
*
Each of us must find
our own words
to speak to the one we love
but if you are unsure
of what to say to them
you could do worse
than telling them
that they have made
surviving the plague
possible
and what’s more
that they have made
surviving the plague
worthwhile.
*
Someday
when future historians
try to explain
how it was that this pandemic
could drag on for so long
they will turn to the articles
in the popular press
and upon seeing the mountain
of doubt and minimizing there
the historians will find
that they have plenty of answers.
*
Beneath a headline
expressing doubt
about the effectiveness of masks
they observe that for masks
to be effective
at the population level
more people must wear them
and wear them correctly
but they do not bother
using their page space
to inform people
how to mask correctly.
*
My father
sends me an article
about dead birds and seals
along with the comment
“nature’s trying to warn us”
but this would hardly
be the first time
we’ve ignore nature’s warnings.
*
They say
that it is simply too difficult
to teach people
how to properly put on a mask
as they stand there in shoes
that someone once taught them
how to properly tie.
*
A friend writes
to ask if I’ve seen the reports
about the dead animals
and to my great dismay
I am forced to reply
by asking her to specify
which disaster she’s referring to.
*
Headlines announcing
that this winter’s surge
was not as bad
as some had predicted
must come as little comfort
to the thousands of people
burying loved ones each week.
*
When you hear
the pandemic referred to
as a once in century catastrophe
please bear in mind
that such a description
is a catchy turn of phrase
and not a definitive guarantee.
*
On the rear window
of a car I walked by
I saw a sticker
featuring the number
26.2
which I can only assume
is a reference to a marathon
the car’s owner
has ostensibly run
and while that endurance
is certainly impressive
it is really nothing
compared to enduring
this pandemic.
*
That the trackers
are shutting down
does not mean
that there is nothing
left for them to track.
*
I recognize
that I am not any kind
of medical expert or authority
but I must confess
it seems rather counterintuitive
that the way to protect myself
from future infections
is to allow myself
to just keep getting infected.
*
I know an old punk
whose pierced nose
remains hidden
behind the N95 mask
he dutifully wears
and when I ask him
if he still wears it
because his aesthetic
has never cared for norms
he replies that he wears it
because nothing is more punk
than giving a shit
about other people.
*
You can marshal all the data
and read every pertinent paper
in order to ensure
that your personal risk assessment
is as informed as possible
yet even then
it is hard to factor in
the simple fact
that we never think
(we never really think)
that it can happen to us
until it does.
*
*
Plague Poems…the following week
About Z.M.L
One comment on “Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Third Week”
Leave a Reply
Also on the Shipwreck
Ne'er do wells
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
LibrarianShipwreck 
Pingback: Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Second Week | LibrarianShipwreck