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

What a relief it is
to sit and watch
as those you dislike
struggle to survive
in the cold and in the mud
for to sit and watch them
provides a distraction
a momentary distraction
from the cold and the mud
in which you
are struggling to survive.

There are enough plagues
and we are plagued by enough
without needing to pretend
that Ebola has broken out
at a music festival in the desert.

While many of
are fortunate enough
to be free from labor today
it is important to remember
that the plague
is still hard at work

In this moment
do not be frightened
instead, be grateful,
give thanks for how little
testing is being done
after all, if we were still testing
testing as much as we once did
the findings might give you cause
to truly be frightened.

We are annoyed
we are so very annoyed
to be told we must prepare
for yet another wave
we want this to be over
we are desperate for it to be over
provided, of course,
that we need not
inconvenience ourselves.

A wise man once said
“Solidarity
is the last and only hope
of labor”
and though his words
are certainly true
it is worth recognizing
that here in the midst
of this unending pandemic
“Solidarity
is the last and only hope”
for all of us.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between September 2, 2023 and September 8, 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.

It is hard to believe
that the pandemic is over
when the news
is filled with reports
of the First Lady
contracting the virus.

According to a headline
“No, you don’t have
the ‘August flu.’
It’s probably COVID”
which makes a great deal
of unfortunate sense
after all, the August flu
is not a real thing
and besides
now it’s September.

In commenting on the scourge
of working from home
a headline observed
“All that empty office space
belongs to someone”
so you cannot say
that we are no longer encouraged
to have empathy
it is just that we are told
to empathize with landlords
and not our vulnerable coworkers.

A new report
from the Royal Society
states that non-pharmaceutical
interventions such as
masks and social distancing
lockdowns and isolating
“unequivocally”
reduced the virus’s spread
which just goes to show
that if you want to stop
a virus’s spread
it helps to do something.

We all know that old canard
the one that says
the third time is the charm
so perhaps for all
these prominent figures
testing positive for a third time
this will be their last infection
perhaps and hopefully
but let’s be honest here
in this case
the third time is just more harm.

I heard a doctor state
“We wanted to make it
like flu
because that was easier,
but it’s never got to be
like flu”
and while I appreciate her honesty
I wish she had been louder
about this opinion
back when she was still
in a position of authority.

I know, my friend,
that you are tired
of hearing about the virus
but please understand
there are many people
who are very tired
of trying to get you to listen.

Plagues come for us all
rich and poor
old and young
believer and atheist
famous and obscure
strong and weak
yes, plagues come for us all,
though the things we need
to survive these plagues
tend to come
to those who can afford them.

Regarding his mask
the President joked
“They keep telling me
because it has to be 10 days
or something,
I gotta keep wearing it.
But don’t tell them
I didn’t have it on
when I walked in”
and between the polite claps
you could hear the absent laughter
of the plague’s victims.

There’s extra money
in the department’s budget
and my boss tells us all
to submit a list
of things we might want
so I asked for a hepa filter
and he replied
that what he really meant
is that if I want
I can get a new chair.

My colleague informs me
that HR has told her
that our insurance will cover
the cost of the new boosters
and while I am thankful
goodness, I am thankful,
I can’t help but think
that the boosters
won’t be available for weeks
but our workplace is currently
filled with sick employees.

The problem is not
that our leaders are telling us
to wash our hands
to wash our hands as a solution
to this airborne virus
after all, insufficient,
though it may be
you really should
make sure to wash your hands
no, the problem is
that our leaders
have washed their hands of us.

According to a recent headline
“COVID Continues to Rise,
but Experts
Remain Optimistic”
and though this is clearly
meant to be reassuring
those sitting next to
their loved one’s hospital bed
or making funeral arrangements
probably do not share
the experts’ optimism.

When he saw me
in the mailroom
he dramatically rolled his eyes
and asked if I was really going
to “wear that mask forever”
and though I normally try
to be polite and ignore him
this time my manners failed me
and so I reminded him
that he had been out sick
with Covid all last week.

The teacher calls to say
that he doesn’t know what to do
his students are sick
his colleagues are sick
he fears he’ll get sick
there used to be policies
there used to be empathy
there used to be resources
but now he says
the only thing that’s left
is the virus.

Should you see me
having fallen by the wayside
please just know
it is not that I fell, but that
I was dropped
I was pushed
I was tripped
believe me, I was trying
I was trying not to fall
so should you see me
having fallen by the wayside
please my friend
stop and help me back up.

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 →