Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Eighty-First Week

I keep hearing people say
that worrisome
though this moment may be
2023 is not 2020 or 2021
and they are right
of course they are right
for back then
we still believed
that the pandemic
would be over by now.

*

I have heard it said
from a high-ranking official
that “We’re working
as fast as we can
to understand
this new variant
and what impact it might have”
and while I recognize
that it is meant to be reassuring
I fear that this new variant
is working even faster.

*

When I asked
if she was ready for school
my friend the teacher
told me a joke:

“What do students
and teachers
and parents
and administrators
and the virus
all have in common?”

I said I did not know.

“They’re getting ready
to go back to school.”

And then neither of us laughed.

*

Whenever case numbers rise
you can heard many people
openly proclaiming
that they don’t care
and while it may be tempting
to interpret their comment
narrowly, as about the virus,
really what they are saying is
that they don’t care
about anyone else.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between August 26, 2023 and September 1, 2023.

They were initially posted online on X/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 scientists
who study such things
believe viral transmission
could have been cut down
if only schools
had cleaner indoor air
which is worth reflecting on
as students and teachers
prepare to return
to their poorly ventilated classrooms
in the midst of another surge.

*

When we see each other
the professor
tells me he is unwell
having tested positive
on Saturday
but he isn’t canceling his classes
after all, he’s ok,
“what’s the worst
that could happen?”
he asks with a shrug
and when I reply
“you could infect your students”
he just gets annoyed.

*

I heard the WHO say
that considering
the infections and re-infections
and the many dying
and the many suffering
“governments cannot
drop the ball,
they must remain vigilant”
but the tense is wrong
for that ball
was already dropped
and now governments refuse
to pick it back up.

*

Perhaps the newspapers
would not need
to keep writing headlines
declaring that the pandemic
is not over yet
if the did not insist
on using every lull
or positive sign
as an occasion to proclaim
the pandemic finally over.

*

I heard
a prominent doctor joke
“This virus doesn’t know
whether it’s spring
summer, winter, or fall”
which is certainly one way
of acknowledging
that when people refer
to this virus as seasonal
they mean you can catch it
in every season.

*

When we ran into each other
Monday on the sidewalk
the professor told me
that he had tested positive
for the virus on Saturday
so I stepped away
and wished him well
but today we ran into each other
as he stood maskless
in the copy room
and I confess
I wanted to scream.

*

The doctor
sought to calm worries
by noting that the only ones
really at risk are
“the vulnerable:
the elderly and those
with underlying conditions”
which is reassuring
unless you or your loved ones
are amongst “the vulnerable:
the elderly and those
with underlying conditions.”

*

I know, of course I know,
that this is not
a previous fall
no, it is not the fall of 2020
or the fall of 2021
or the fall of 2022
technically it is not
even really the fall of 2023
and yet I can’t rid myself
of the gloomy suspicion
that we are falling.

*

She writes to tell me
that two days after
her department’s party
three of her colleagues
tested positive for the virus
and when I ask
if everyone is okay
she simply says
well, everyone is at work
and when I ask
if everyone means everyone
she replies,
yes, they’re here coughing.

*

A new study says that
“millions may have
Long COVID
and not know it”
which puts into perspective
all of those people
who insist they are fine
even as they keep commenting
on how ever since the pandemic
nothing seems like it
smells or tastes right anymore.

*

Concern
about the new variants
must be seeping in
for today when I ran
into the supermarket
there were many masked faces
many more masked faces
than I’ve seen in months
I’ve grown accustomed
to being the only masked face
but today
mine was one of four.

*

I heard a doctor say
that though in this wave
“It’s not going to be
this tsunami of cases”
that nevertheless “you’ll find
the vulnerable will
will fall by the wayside,”
but he’s wrong
it’s not that “the vulnerable will
fall by the wayside”
it’s that they
are being dropped there.

*

I know better than to trust
solely in personal experience
or anecdotal evidence
these are no substitute
for scientific data
but this morning
when I went into the pharmacy
the man at the counter told me
they were sold out
of home test kits
and that seems to me
like a bad sign.

*

According to a study
the longer you are exposed to it
the greater your risk
of getting infected
which is a study that I
find myself thinking about
as I sit here
in this lengthy meeting
with several maskless people
who I know tested positive
only a few days ago.

*

I really should have
been clearer with my comments
when I said before
that I wished our leaders
would show more interest
in the ongoing pandemic
I did not mean
that I was hoping that they
would let student loans
start accruing more interest
as the pandemic goes on.

*

I asked the math professor
how her first week
of classes had gone
and she replied
with this problem:

“If 5 students
missed class on Friday
because they had
tested positive on Thursday
how many of those 5
had the virus
in class on Wednesday?”

I did not answer 0,
I just said oh.

*

Whatever you do
you must not cry wolf
yes, we know this,
but by now we also know
people who were killed
by the wolf
people who never recovered
from the wolf
and many of us
have been bitten
by the wolf
yes, we know,
not to cry wolf
and yet it is still here
the wolf is still here.

*

*

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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