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

In these
cold and dark times
it is present enough
to be safe and warm
for these
cold and dark times
continually teach us
that to be safe and warm
is no small thing.

*

We used to joke
before all of this
about how we hoped
to survive the holidays
gesturing towards
in-laws and obnoxious uncles
too much cooking and gifting
but here and now
in the pandemic’s fifth year
when we say
we hope to survive the holidays
we mean it
in a more literal sense.

*

Assuming you were nice
and not naughty
I hope you were given
what you most desired
that coat that book
that game that necklace
I hope it made you feel loved
but more than that
I hope a week from now
you won’t be battling symptoms
that suggest how you
were given something else.

*

My dear friend, I know
you are too kind a person
to have been visited
by admonitory spirits last night
alas, my friend, you know
that it is always those
who are most responsive
to the ghosts
of our past present and future
who spend their days
looking haunted.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between December 23, 2023 and December 29, 2023.

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

*

Proceed with skepticism
when you hear it said
that around 1 in 29 people
are carrying the virus
for that estimate
is already several days old
and if you remember
what many people did yesterday
you should know
that now it’s probably worse
than around 1 in 29 people.

*

As we reflect back on the year
I grumble to my friend
that it was a horrid one
out of which nothing good has come
to which he offers the counter
that many very good
doom raw funeral and black
metal albums were released
and I can’t help but wonder
if the two things are related.

*

You may not have seen it
after all, the headline
was from last Friday afternoon
but it read: “CDC warns
flu and COVID
infections are on the rise
and could get worse”
which (in fairness)
is not the sort of headline
people like to be reminded of
after gathering for a holiday.

*

She sent me a short message
one that said
“it’s getting worse”
and when I wrote back
seeking clarification
by asking her
“what’s getting worse?”
she replied with a simple
“yes.”

*

It has been many months
since the WHO declared
the global health emergency
to be over
but it has only been days
since the WHO noted
that global cases had surged
by 52% in a month
so whoever you may be
there is no shame
in admitting you were wrong
and that the emergency continues.

*

My cautious friend
keeps nervously saying
that this moment
reminds him of the start
of the Omicron surge
but my other cautious friend
insists he is wrong
after all back at the start
of the Omicron surge
most people still recognized
that they were in a pandemic.

*

The professor tells me
she has ambitious plans for break
books to read and articles to write
syllabi to craft and proposals to submit
but her main ambition
is to avoid the virus
and she is worried
because she knows
professors always make
overly ambitious plans for break.

*

At the beginning of
of the pandemic’s first year
my friend who studies disasters
would anxiously explain
that the pandemic is a test.

At the beginning of
of the pandemic’s fifth year
my friend who studies disasters
now anxiously states
that the pandemic is a test
we keep failing.

*

He is worried
about the new variant
so he asks me
if he should mask again
but before I can answer he says
he hates wearing one
how it looks
how it smells
how it feels
he just hates it
and so I tell him
I’m not wearing one because I like
how it looks
how it smells
how it feels.

*

According to the CDC
JN.1’s spread can be attributed to
it being more transmissible
or better at evading
our immune systems
and while these
are logical scientific explanations
I can’t help but wonder
if JN.1’s spread might also be attributed
to people pretending it’s just a cold.

*

It is simply inaccurate
to claim that we
here at the start
of the pandemic’s fifth year
are right back where we
were at the start
of the pandemic’s first
for back in the first year
we were at least trying
to count the cases.

*

After the pandemic
I hope my words will be forgotten
discarded like a disposable mask
that has outlived its usefulness
for these words
are not intended for posterity
but for use
these words will be forgotten
but in this lonely moment
know that these words
have not forgotten you.

*

When you hear them react
(and you will hear them react)
to your ongoing concern
by mockingly commenting
that they’re impressed
you’re still at it
just remember
that giving a damn
is a thankless task.

*

If you are wondering
how worried to be
about the current surge
know that the CDC is recommending
“improving ventilation…
keep windows open,
use exhaust fans,
and use air purifiers.
You could also consider
moving activities outdoors”
which is a good advice
suggesting this is a bad time.

*

As one year ends
and the next begins
together we sing of how
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet
and year after year
we are left asking for
we are left waiting for
that cup of kindness
which never seems to come
and yet we wonder why
we are so desperately thirsty.

*

So your book
remains unwritten.

And your degree
remains unearned.

And your debts
remain unpaid.

And your job
remains unsatisfying.

And your hopes
remain unfulfilled.

Think nothing of it
the year is ending
and you
have done enough
for all that matters
is that you remain.

*

*

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 →