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

If I had a dollar
for every week that I have started
by seeing an article
announcing (at long last!)
the end of the pandemic
I would have so much money
that I could afford
to buy all of you
enough high-quality masks
to make it through
the rest of the pandemic.

I have heard it said
that this plague
does not target
certain ethnicities
which will certainly
come as a relief
to all of my
apparently immune relatives
who nevertheless fell ill
with this plague.

That the number
of daily deaths
is at last returning to “normal”
certainly represents
an important moment
yes, but how many
hundreds of thousands
did not live
to see this milestone reached.

By now everyone has heard
that the pandemic is over
politicians and employers
students and teachers
doctors and scientists
journalists and neighbors
yes, everyone has heard
that the pandemic is over
now if only someone
could please tell this to the virus.

My apologies
I know that no one
likes to be reminded
of things they’d rather forget
but it is worth remembering
that we have previously
celebrated the defeat
of the plague
in the summertime
only for it to return
in the autumn.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between July 15, 2023 and July 21, 2023.

They were initially posted online on Twitter at @plaguepoems, on Mastodon at @plaguepoems@mastodon.social, 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.

And while we
argued and grumbled
about the newspaper of record
once again declaring
the pandemic to be over
the CDC quietly noted
that it had detected
an increase in cases
a small increase apparently
but an increase nevertheless.

I confess
it feels rather odd to see
a public information campaign
say “we can do this”
after so many months
of being told “you do you.”

The wastewater surveillance
is showing evidence
of rising case numbers
which is an unfortunate sign
that this shit isn’t over.

Please note:
when used as a descriptor
for some calamitous event
the phrase “once in a century”
does not apply
to the current century.

I know, of course I know,
that the writers
are on strike
and I would never cross
a picket line
but as I watch the signs
of the virus returning
I’m just so tired
of these pandemic reruns
I wish someone
would write a new season
in which the pandemic
actually ends.

Apparently, even now,
“anybody who meets with
the president
does indeed get tested”
which seems to suggest
contrary to what
that same president said
back in September 2022
the pandemic
is not actually over.

Though the statement
is certainly appreciate
a public health campaign
which notes that
“Just because you
had COVID
doesn’t mean you
can’t get it again”
seems anachronistic
at a point when many people
are already on
their third or fourth infection.

It is understandable
that those meeting with
the president
should be tested for the virus
after all, the president is
an important person
to many people
but you who are told
that you must learn
to live with the virus
please remember
you are an important person
to many people too.

The department
of health and human services
has acknowledged that
“The more often you
get COVID,
the higher your risk
of complications”
but what they fail to mention
is that should you try
to not catch it “more often”
you will be accused
of living in fear.

If your employer tells you
that you are not allowed
to wear a mask
without a medical note
you may be tempted to ask
how they will respond
when you give them
a medical note explaining that you
are now too sick to work,
but you already know
they’ll expect you to work your shift.

According to a survey
64% of Americans say
that the pandemic is over
however some 57% say
their lives have not returned
to the pre-pandemic normal
alas, as it turns out,
it is hard for life to return
to the pre-pandemic normal
when the pandemic
is not actually over.

Evidently, all it takes
to make it seem
as though the number
of excess deaths
has finally leveled off
is to raise the baseline.

An employer says
“wearing a mask
literally adds a barrier
to communication
–much of which is nonverbal–
and promotes a more distant
and disconnected environment”
but no work environment
is more distant and disconnected
than one where workers
are in-n-out
as they keep falling ill.

Now that they know
they will not be held
legally responsible
should their employees
contract the virus at work
many employers
are dropping the masks
of concern they briefly wore
and many are also
forbidding their employees
from wearing protective masks.

You need not worry
that the next time
you go to get a burger
you will be asked
if you want plague with that
though many of the workers
asking customers
if they want fries with that
will now have to worry
about receiving the virus
along with the customer’s order.

According to new research
when working from home
bankers
are five times less likely
to engage in financial misconduct
and while I still think
that the primary benefit
of working from home
remains fighting the plague’s spread
this is certainly an added bonus.

You are right
humanity has survived
worse than this before
through plagues and disasters
the species endures
yes, of course,
humanity has survived
but you and I
are not humanity
we are just humans,
humanity has survived
plagues and disasters
but many humans
are not so lucky.

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

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