Plague Poems – The Two-Hundred-and-Fifth Week

In the dark times
will there also be big games
lavish performances
funny commercials
and celebrity appearances?
Yes, in the dark times
there will also be big games
lavish performances
funny commercials
and celebrity appearances,
in order to distract us
from the dark times.

*

The game is over
and at this point we all know
which team was victorious
and so now the only question
is how long it will be
before we hear complaints
about the “football flu”
everyone seems to have picked up
at their game day parties.

*

My friend, the optimist,
says were so much wiser
than those ancient people
who could be distracted
by bread and circuses.

My friend, the pessimist,
says we are even less wise
than those ancient people
for we watch the circus
while struggling to afford bread.

*

There are many ways
to describe a pandemic
that at this point
has killed more than 2,000
for six weeks in a row,
has killed more than 1,000
for twenty-two weeks in a row,
such a pandemic can be called
tragic and horrible
disastrous and catastrophic
but it cannot be called over.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between February 10, 2024 and February 16, 2024.

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.

*

Don’t bother telling me
how you identify politically,
I don’t care which is
your favorite book,
your favorite thinker,
your favorite magazine,
I keep hearing you say
you believe in a better world
but I suspect that you
are quite willing
to abandon many of us
on your way there.

*

I have seen it reported
that the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
is planning to drop
its five-day
COVID isolation guidelines
which suggests that it is time
for the CDC to drop
the words Control and Prevention
from its name.

*

When I tell her
that I fear the virus
has won
my great aunt scolds me
for my defeatism,
she insists that it isn’t
that the virus has won
but rather that apathy
has won,
and I can’t help but think
that’s worse
that’s even worse.

*

After the guidelines
have been dropped,
and after we
have been dropped,
it falls to us
to pick each other back up.

*

In the absence
of official guidelines
it can be a challenge
to know
exactly what to do
but in the absence
please remember
we never needed
an institution’s word
to know
that what we must do
is take care of each other.

*

We all hope to be struck
by Cupid’s arrow,
but if you cannot taste
the chocolates
and cannot smell
the flowers
it is worth remembering
that, yes, Cupid the cherub
carries a bow
but Pestilence the rider
carries a bow as well.

*

If they ask you
why you are masked today
tell them that it’s because
you forgot
to buy them flowers
or order them chocolates
so you’re wearing it
because you still wanted
to do something to show
that you care about them.

*

Please take care
my friend
wherever you are on this day
please take care
of yourself of others
oh, please try to take care
and though I recognize
that this is not
a particularly good love poem
please just know
that it was written for you
out of love.

*

There was a time
long ago
when it was believed
that plagues and pandemics
were divine punishment
for human misconduct
and though I do not believe
in a judgemental deity
it seems fairly clear to me
that human misconduct
is prolonging this pandemic.

*

A recent study
from the CDC found
that by 2022
6.4% of US adults reported
having experienced Long COVID
but 6.4% isn’t that bad
no, it’s not really that bad
after all, 6.4% of US adults
is only around 16.5 million people.

*

To justify
dropping their guidelines
they say it is necessary
to meet the people
where they are
but seeing as the people
are in the fifth year
of this pandemic
perhaps it would be better
not to meet the people
where they are
but to try to lead them
to somewhere better.

*

I have heard it said
that if someone
is wearing a mask
you can’t tell
who they really are
but I disagree
these days
when someone is
or is not
wearing a mask
they are showing you
exactly who they are.

*

There’s always a chance
it’ll turn out I was wrong
and in that case
I will have wasted money
on masks and test-kits,
I will have missed out
on social events and travel,
I might even feel foolish,
and that’s fine
I can live with being wrong
but first
I have to live through this.

*

It is easy to understand
why many believe
the plague is gone
for if you look around
you will hardly see it
mentioned in headlines,
attested to by masked faces,
visible in public policies,
yes, these days the only place
you still see it
is in the sickly faces
that are everywhere.

*

How lucky you are
that it wasn’t so bad
when you caught it
your symptoms were few
your fever barely present
your recovery swift
yes, how lucky you are
that it wasn’t so bad
when you caught it
I just hope
that your luck will hold
the next time you catch it.

*

When they tell you
that the virus
only kills sick people,
when they tell you
that the virus
only kills old people,
that is when you
must remind them
that it isn’t that
the virus only kills
the sick and the old,
but that the virus
kills people.

*

*

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 →