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

This pandemic
is a once in a lifetime event
yes, this pandemic
is just a once in a lifetime event
at least this is what I tell myself
as I try to make it through
this pandemic
which is currently in its fifth year.

I have read
that the so-called
“absenteeism crisis”
afflicting our schools
can be attributed to
how “something fundamental
has shifted
in American culture”
which is certainly one way
of recognizing that we
are still in a pandemic.

In reference to
avian influenza
being detected in cows
the USDA noted “this
is a rapidly evolving situation”
and I just hope
and I just pray
that when they say
“rapidly evolving”
that they aren’t referring
to the virus.

How ridiculous it is
to suggest that the news
of avian flu in cows
means we have gone back
back to where we were
before the current pandemic,
things are different now,
we have learned so much,
for instance, we have learned
how ill prepared our society is
for a dangerous pandemic.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between March 30, 2024 and April 5, 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.

I am trying
not to be an alarmist
but all around me
I keep hearing the sound
of alarms going off.

My friend who prepares
tells me she has restocked
all of her shelves
“just in case” things get bad
she has purchased
flour and beans
toilet paper and rice
she is ready but she worries
that if avian influenza
jumps to humans
even these precautions
will just be for the birds.

After years of hoping
after years of praying
for herd immunity
it is an odd thing
to find yourself
hoping and praying
for herd immunity
in literal herds.

When I asked
my aunt, the doctor,
how worried I should be
about avian influenza
she told me
“don’t have a cow”
and when I laughed
uneasily laughed
at her dated slang
she clarified “seriously.
stay away from cows.”

We all grieve
over what the pandemic
has taken from us
loved ones and our own health,
prime years and opportunities,
but what the pandemic
has taken from all of us
is the ability believe
that our society was stronger
than a pandemic
and that is a loss
we all grieve.

Having tired
of riding a horse
it now seems
that pestilence
is choosing a cow
as its steed.

Remember:
we have had years
to prepare ourselves
for the next pandemic.

Have we
prepared ourselves
for the next pandemic?

No, we have not
prepared ourselves
for the next pandemic
but we have had years.

My aunt, the doctor,
asks if I remember her saying
that “a pandemic ends
when the next one begins”?
and after I say I do,
she says that she has
“good news and bad news:
the good news is that
the pandemic that started
in 2019 may be about to end
and that is also the bad news.”

The provocative headline
asked “Who ‘Won’ Covid?
It Depends How You Measure.”
but regardless
of “how you measure”
it seems quite clear
that if you are wondering
“who ‘won’ Covid”
the answer is: the virus.

My sister, the vegetarian,
insists our anthropocentrism
will be our downfall
she says we ignored bird flu
because it mainly kills animals
so many animals
but just animals,
and it’s not that I think she’s wrong
but that the pandemic has taught me
we don’t care
about dead humans either.

The article warns
a bird flu pandemic
has the potential to be
“100 times worse than COVID”
and while I will admit
this frightens me
what scares me more
is knowing most people
think the current pandemic
poses zero risk
so I fear “100 times” zero
is the calculation most will make.

As we stand in line
at the grocery store
the woman behind me
regales me with the story of
how long she masked for
how early she was vaccinated
how regularly she tested
I can tell she expects praise
but as I look at her maskless face
I just want to ask her
what she’s doing now.

I have heard it said
that the reward
for succeeding
at a difficult task
is being expected
to succeed
at a more difficult task
and I fear
we are about to see
this logic applied
to trying to survive
a plague.

Regarding avian influenza
I heard a prominent figure say
the “CDC and the whole
of US government
is taking this very seriously and
monitoring the situation very closely”
and I am certain they have
all the resources to do so
seeing as they’ve moved on
from the current pandemic.

I am not the sort
to see divine judgement
in disquieting events
but if I were
I would shudder not
at a mild earthquake
or impending eclipse
but at the fact
that there is something wrong
something terribly wrong
with our cows and chickens.

I was concerned
(though not afraid)
as I went to read
the CDC’s advisory
regarding avian influenza,
but after reading
through the comments
from those who are certain
that avian influenza is a hoax
I am no longer concerned
yes, I am no longer concerned,
now I am terrified.

Everyone loves
a nice mild earthquake
it shakes us
and yet we remain
standing in its wake
we laugh at how well
we survived this disaster
that was not actually a disaster
so pleased to have had
this momentary distraction
from the calamities
amidst which we live.

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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