Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Second Week
Here is a joke:
What does this latest
concerning variant
have in common
with the previous
concerning variant?
This latest
concerning variant
like the previous
concerning variant
is sure to be the last.
I know that is not funny
but with time
it will become less funny.
*
I saw a headline
featuring a quote that stated
“everyone
is kind of tired
and has given up”
and while I cannot deny
that everyone is tired
much more than “kind of tired”
that most people
have given up
does not mean
that everyone has.
*
The pills aren’t helping
the man at the pharmacy
says into his phone
itching his red eyes
and grumbling how he’s never had
seasonal allergies before.
Overhearing him, I tell myself
it’s just a coincidence
that a symptom of Arcturus
is red itchy eyes
yes, I hope it’s a coincidence.
*
Please,
do not suggest
that the latest variant
is spreading like wildfire
such a comparison is flawed
for when an actual blaze
is spreading like wildfire
usually we at least try
to contain it.
*
Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between April 15, 2023 and April 21, 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.
*
An animal died
in one of our building’s walls
so my neighbors and I
stand outside griping
about this nauseating problem
until another neighbor
comes out to ask
what we’re doing
but when we tell him
he says he can’t smell anything
and I think: oh,
he has a much bigger problem.
*
In fairness
it is rather difficult
to see new waves forming
when your head
is already underwater.
*
Though I did not see
the proper area to itemize them
on the tax website
you should really be able
to deduct the not insignificant cost
of quality masks, test-kits,
and other precautionary tools
for such things are certainly
workplace expenses and
charitable donations.
*
Look, I’ll admit it
I’m tired
of taking precautions
and I’m tired
of calculating risks
but I shall continue
for it is not so much
that I am experiencing
compassion fatigue
as that I am fatigued
by the lack of compassion
I see all around me.
*
I ride my bicycle
down streets without bike lanes
and I walk home alone
late at night
I go on hikes
without compass or map
and I have an impatient
tendency to jaywalk
I do not consider myself
to be particularly risk averse
though I will admit
I remain quite plague averse.
*
The names
of the latest variants
come from mythology
and from astronomy
as for
the variants themselves
those come not
from myths or the stars
but from our decision
to just live with the virus.
*
You may have heard
that yet another
worrisome variant
is now making the rounds
but you do not need to worry
that it will cause a major rise
in case numbers
after all, we stopped keeping track
of those pesky figures ages ago.
*
We all know someone
who just can’t handle spicy food
a friend a relative
whoever they are
dishes described as hot or medium
destroy them
even that which gets called
mild
is more than they can stand
which is worth keeping in mind
when you hear
a new plague variant called mild.
*
In fairness
“rapid unscheduled disassembly”
is a pretty good descriptor
of what the pandemic
has done to our society.
*
There is a machine
that can write articles
another machine
that can create images
and a different machine
that can produce songs
at this rate
the only thing that will be left
for humans to do
is to grieve
but I’m sure that someone
is working on a machine
that does that too.
*
My colleague the headbanger
is not looking well
when I ask how he is feeling
he tells me he went to a metal show
after which he just hasn’t felt
like his normal self
I ask if he took precautions
replies that he wore earplugs
so I suppose he at least
protected himself from noise.
*
To simulate conditions on Mars
NASA is preparing
to lock four people inside
for an entire year
and while I suppose
this might have once seemed
like quite an ordeal
at this point in the pandemic
I have had plenty of practice
just staying inside.
*
They warn the attendees
of the music festival
that they may come down
with a case of “festival flu”
the cold and flu symptoms of which
are due supposedly
to the site’s hot and dusty conditions
and I think to myself: “festival flu”
so I guess that’s what
we’re calling it now.
*
When we talk about the news
my mother tells me
that she genuinely believes
the pandemic
has made our society curel
but she quickly corrects herslef
stating it is not the case that
the pandemic
has made our society cruel
but that it has made
our cruel society even crueler.
*
When a storm approaches
alerts are disseminated
asking the unfortunate souls
in the storm’s path
to flee if they can
but no such warnings are made
when a new variant approaches
for we are no longer told
to avoid the virus
and besides, there is no safe place
to which to flee.
*
It is said
that since 2019
the plague has changed
changes so much for the worse
that now it hardly resembles
what it once was
and I can sympathize
for since 2019 I too
have changed
changed so much for the worse
that now I hardly resemble
what I once was.
*
*
About Z.M.L
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 