Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Fifth Week

That our leaders
and our institutions
and our employers
and even most
of our neighbors
have surrendered
to the plague
is the real emergency
it is an emergency
that persists.

My British friend tells me
he has a new appreciation
for what life
must have been like
for a medieval peasant
as he too
is trying to survive a plague
while hating the new king.

The WHO warned us
that “An estimated
one in ten infections
results
in post-COVID conditions”
but now they tell us
that the emergency
has in fact ended
which must be small comfort
to the members of
that unlucky one in ten
for whom the emergency
is every day.

It isn’t that I’m living in fear
but that I am living
in this exceptional country
where whenever I go out
I must consider the possibility
that I might wind up
contracting the plague
or being gunned down
so it isn’t that I’m living in fear
but that I’m living here.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between May 6, 2023 and May 12, 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.

At this point
in order to protect myself
I am quite accustomed
to wearing a mask
whenever I go out
whether to work or
to the supermarket
though I am beginning to think
that in order to protect myself
I should probably also start
wearing a bulletproof vest.

I asked my friend
the historian of medicine
who she thinks
will be appointed next
to direct the CDC
and in response she shrugged
admitting she did not know
who will run it next
though wish a sigh she added
the plague is running it now.

As we discuss
the state of the pandemic
one of my friends states
they’re killing us on purpose
while another friend countes
they’re killing us with indifference
and a different friend replies
that they don’t know
which of those is worse.

A friend asked if I knew
“who is responsible
for global public health”
I replied
“WHO is responsible
for global public health”
exasperated he said
“I don’t know,
that’s why I asked you”
but I told him
“I don’t know
is the group responsible
for preparing
for the next pandemic.”

I do not believe
that the pandemic
transformed all of us
into antisocial goblins
though it is quite clear
that the pandemic
turned millions of people
into ghosts.

Inside the elevator
there is a panel
detailing what to do
in the case of a fire
or a breakdown
and as this is at a university
there is a sign
explaining what to do
if there is a shooting
there used to also be a sign
noting what to do
in a pandemic
but that sign is now gone.

I have never
been one to believe
that our fates are determined
by the stars
but in these days
of Arcturus and Acrux
(and whatever stars
the next variants
will be named after)
I am beginning to think
that in some sense
our fates
may truly be determined
by the stars.

The public health emergency
will officially expire tomorrow
on the eleventh of May
which will come as little comfort
to all of those
whose loved ones
will expire tomorrow
as the pandemic drags on.

Congratulations,
if you are reading this
it means that you
have survived
the emergency portion
of the pandemic
now all you have to do
is manage to survive
the rest of it.

According to
a prominent doctor
“in most cases,
pandemics
truly end
when the next
pandemic begins”
which means
that all we have to do
for this horror to end
is wait
for something worse to begin.

As I walk down the street
I no longer see
particularly many masks
littering the sidewalk
and while I suppose
that is a good thing
I also no longer see
particularly many masks
on people’s faces.

The state of emergency
under which
we were governed
ends.

The state of emergency
under which
we live our lives
endures.

Take care
of please my friend
do take care
lest the end
of the emergency
should wind up being
the end of you.

The scientists say
that with the end
of the public health emergency
and with it
the winding down
of surveillance efforts
that we will now have to rely
on the wastewater data
in order to know
the depth of the shit we are in.

The headlines say
that the emergency
has ended after
1200 days
as opposed to saying
that the emergency
has ended after
1,131,729 deaths
because that away
we need not recognize
that the number of deaths
is still increasing.

When they ask you
(and they will ask you)
why you still insist
on taking precautions
now that the emergency
has officially ended
reply by telling them
that you did not need
an emergency declaration
to make you believe
that we have an obligation
to try to protect one another.

Plague Poems…the following week

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

View all posts by Z.M.L →