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

If you are concerned
about the reports
that the virus is surging again
open a newspaper
there you will find
the people who assured you
that the pandemic is over
(the people who keep assuring you
that the pandemic is over)
back to tell you
that after this wave
it’ll really be over.

*

My friend across the pond
sent me a headline which read
“UK almost ‘flying blind’
on COVID this autumn,
experts say,”
and the same headline
could certainly be written here
though there would be no need
to include the word “almost.”

*

While updating a document
I checked a link
one that was meant to take me
to my employer’s COVID policies
but all that greeted me there
was a plain page and the words
“Not Found”
which, in my employer’s defense,
is really quite accurate.

*

When the billionaire declared
“this has gone on long enough”
I agreed with him, as I too
think that the pandemic
“has gone on long enough”
but then he added
“the pandemic is over”
and I realized he was talking
about remote work
which reminded me
why I don’t listen to billionaires.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between August 5, 2023 and August 11, 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.

*

I know, you say
it’s just a summer cold
but please my friend
the symptoms
of the new variant include
sore throat and sneezing
blocked and or runny nose
dry cough, wet cough, headache,
hoarse voice, aching muscles,
and altered smell
you say it’s a cold
but what if you’re wrong.

*

My friend the professor
tells me that her colleagues
are very worried
they’re all very worried
about what AI
will do to their classrooms
this coming semester
but when I ask her opinion
she shrugs and says
that she’s more concerned
about what the virus
will do to her classroom.

*

I saw a headline which declared
“COVID or summer cold?
Without free tests,
many won’t know”
and it reminded me
of how years ago
the idea of cutting back on testing
to hide case numbers
behind a cloud of “won’t know”
was considered outrageous.

*

Having just relocated
I did not immediately recognize
the siren’s odd sound
so I called out the window
to my neighbor
who was smoking on his porch
and he calmly replied
“tornado warning
you’ll learn to ignore them”
which seems to be
how people respond
to most sirens these days.

*

I saw a prominent entertainer
commenting on their struggle
with “the summer flu”
and as I sympathetically read
of their challenges
I thought to myself:
summer flu,
I’m so tired of having to learn
the new thing
that we’re calling it each week.

*

Eris, who lends her name
to the latest worrisome variant
is the Greek goddess
of strife and discord
she certainly makes for
an appropriate namesake, but
if we are going to name variants
for figures from Greek mythology
we really might as well
just name every variant Cassandra.

*

According to the CDC
“severe reinfections do occur
and some people
can experience
more severe COVID-19
during reinfection,”
but before you worry
please remember
the CDC also says
“reinfection with SARS-CoV-2
within 90 days
of the initial infection
can occur”
ok know you can worry.

*

On my walk to work
I regularly pass a house
which flies a flag which reads:
“practice radical empathy”
and while the sight of those words
usually makes me feel
slightly hopeful
of late when I pass it
I have been wondering
if just practicing empathy
is itself radical these days.

*

The WHO notes:
“the number
of reported cases,
hospitalizations
and deaths globally
has continued to decline”
but to this they added
“the number of countries
reporting data to WHO
has also declined significantly”
and the second point
seems like it undermines
the first point.

*

When it comes to the pandemic
the current administration
is attempting
to “aggressively execute”
plans that will finally prevent
federal employees
from working remotely
which will certainly make it easier
for the virus to continue
to “aggressively execute”
many unlucky employees.

*

As we stood in line
at the post office
the man in front of me
with a handlebar mustache
apologetically explained
that he no longer wears a mask
as he found that doing so
messed up his mustache
and I did not tell him
that I thought his justification
was as silly as his mustache.

*

I have heard it called
the mystery illness
and festival flu
abnormal allergies
and hyperfatigue
summer flu
and unseasonable cold
hay fever crisis
unspecified illness
and this is only a partial list
of the names we give the virus
so that we don’t have to say
the virus’s name.

*

When we finally find a time
to speak, my aunt the doctor
tells me she is afraid
that the virus
has damaged people’s hearts,
and I tell her at this point
people seem even crueler
than they did before,
but she interrupts me to clarify
that the virus
literally damages the heart.

*

I heard the WHO say
“The virus is evolving.
The virus is circulating
in every country,”
and though I know
they declared the emergency over
it feels like that declaration
was premature
considering that even now
“The virus is evolving.
The virus is circulating
in every country.”

*

I keep hearing
that due to illness
this or that band
this or that musician
has had no choice
but to regretfully cancel
their upcoming performances
which just goes to show
that unlike the Titanic
in our current disaster
the bands do not play on.

*

My friend
even if I was certain
that we are doomed
tomorrow
I would still try
to take care of you
today.

*

*

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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