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

After such a lengthy lull
there is once more
an increase
in movie theater attendance
let us just hope
that this does not result in
an increase
in plague victims.

*

I saw a headline which declared
“Box Office to the World:
The Pandemic
Is Officially Over”
and while I will admit
that I am not an epidemiologist
I am fairly certain
that it takes more
than lots of people
deciding to see a movie
for a pandemic to truly be over.

*

The CDC warns
of a winter “tripledemic”
with COVID, influenza and RSV
they say “We need to make sure
the American people
understand all three
and what they can do
to protect themselves”
but those who try
to protect themselves
will probably just be accused
of living in fear.

*

My apologies
of course I understand
that the pandemic
isn’t the only thing
of importance in the world
but I can’t help but think
that when it comes
to an entity rebranding as X
we should be talking
about XBB and not a website.

*

Should you find yourself
called weird
for still wearing a mask
you just need to remember
that in our present society
it is considered weird
to give a damn about other people.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between July 22, 2023 and July 28, 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.

*

Apparently the “Administration
has made historic progress
on our nation’s ability
to manage COVID-19
so that it no longer
meaningfully disrupts
the way we live our lives”
which will come as a relief
to my friends and coworkers
who keep getting strangely sick
this summer.

*

A new report suggests
that the next pandemic
may come
from the US’s meat supply
but should that occur
you can rest assured
that those who try
to avoid the pandemic
will just be accused
of being chicken.

*

Though the semester
is weeks away, I have received
numerous messages
about preparing for looming threats
a message about active shooters
another on Supreme Court rulings
three about students using AI
but evidently my university
no longer considers the virus
worthy of concern.

*

You should not expect
the people who did not care
when workers were harmed
by the virus, to care now
when workers are harmed
by the extreme heat
especially as those same workers
are still being harmed
by the virus.

*

At risk of being accused
of ruining everyone’s fun
I worry that we are about to learn
that the plague
also enjoys going to the movies.

*

Today I saw a headline
which soberly noted
“U.S. sees biggest rise
in COVID-19 hospitalizations
since December”
and though that may sound bad
just know that this wave
like the previous one
and the one before it
is certain to be the last.

*

I used to joke
that a plague year
for a human
is roughly equivalent
to a human year
for a dog
but now a study suggests
the brain fog
of long COVID is comparable
to aging ten years
and I no longer find
the comparison to dog years
to be all that funny anymore.

*

When they announced
that the public health crisis
has ended
they did not mean
that the danger to the public
is over and done with
they just meant that now
should you fall ill
in this ongoing health crisis
you are on your own.

*

When I walked into the shop
the man behind the counter
looked at my masked face
and stated plainly
“you aren’t from around here”
and while he wasn’t wrong
where I come from
people have also surrendered
to the plague.

*

In shame, I confess
I am beginning to fear
that my years spent reading
about past destruction wrought
by plagues and disasters
by machines and fascists
has only really prepared me
to sit here and read
as current destruction is wrought
by those same forces.

*

I know I should be more concerned
about the possibility
of a collapse in ocean currents
resulting in a new ice age
but try as I might
I find I am struggling
to imagine a world
in which we are even colder
towards one another.

*

My aunt up in Canada
sent me an article in which
someone angrily declared
“We can’t have
50,000 death
and not ask why,”
but down here in the states
we have had more
than a million deaths
and if you dare ask why
you get accused
of living in the past.

*

I have heard it said that:
“The era of global warming
has ended.
The era of global boiling
has arrived,”
and while that certainly
sounds horrible
and while that certainly
really is horrible
even as we are sweltering
let us not forget
that there is also a plague.

*

It is true, that thus far
based on the data we have
this latest wave
doesn’t really seem that bad
which just goes to show
that all it takes
to keep a new wave
from seeming too bad
is to cut back on testing.

*

A group of scientists
have seen fit to defrost
some 46,000 year-old worms
that were frozen
in the Siberian permafrost
and while I admit
I’ve seen too many horror movies
I can’t help but think
that we have enough
apocalypses right now
without needing
to thaw out ancient worms.

*

A friend told me
that she doesn’t believe
the plague has changed us
not really anyways
she insists it did not
make any of us
more or less empathetic
it simply revealed
who and how we were
long before the plague hit
and I do not know
if this makes me feel
better or worse.

*

*

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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