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

If only I knew
how to convince people
that they should care
about sick cattle
and dead birds
but I don’t even know
how to convince people
that they should care
about other people.

I’ve seen the polls
the ones that say
that 12% of Americans
typically wear a mask in public
yes, I’ve seen the polls,
but what I haven’t seen
is 12% of Americans
typically wearing masks in public.

They say
that the next variants
we need to watch for
are the FLiRT variants
which is a rather literal
way of saying
that at this moment
we’re FLiRTing with disaster.

History remembers nothing
it is a closed book
gathering dust on a shelf
history may record
but history does not remember
for that is a responsibility
which is left to people.

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between April 27, 2024 and May 3, 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.

Stay positive!
Yes, the recent news
that the USDA has started testing
ground beef at retail stores
for signs of avian influenza
is rather worrisome
but don’t look at this
as an ominous sign
consider it an opportunity
haven’t you always said
that you’d like to try being vegan.

You must not say
that nothing has been learned
after all, at 33 dairy farms
only 23 people have been tested
for avian influenza
which clearly demonstrates
that from the current pandemic
we have learned
that if you don’t look for it
you won’t find it.

Worrisome though
the pandemic’s numbers
continue to be, tomorrow
they shall improve dramatically
not because of fresh precautions
or newly available treatments
but because as of tomorrow
hospitals will no longer need
to report information
on COVID admissions or occupancy.

These days when they ask you
(and they will ask you)
why you are wearing a mask
they will want to know
if it is because of the virus
or if it is a show of support
for the student protests
and when they ask you this
just know, the best response
is a simple: yes.

I asked my friend
the history professor
if this moment
reminds her of 1968
and she replied that
yes, this moment
reminds her of 1968
though, she explained, at that time
there was not a pandemic
or signs of climate breakdown
yes, she said, this moment
is like 1968, but worse.

We blame the pandemic
for everything
it is why young people
are so frustrated
and why older people
are distracted at work
it is why our society
is so divided
and why grocery prices
have gone up
we blame the pandemic
for everything
everything except
why we are always ill.

Those who refuse
to truly look at the world
often hide their complacency
behind a deep concern
for a few broken windows.

It would be easier
if our world was run
by heartless monsters
unspeakable eldritch creatures
our of a tale of horror
unable to imagine
the suffering of others
but our world is not run
by heartless monsters
it is run by human beings
unwilling to imagine
the suffering of others.

You must not say
that we learn nothing
from crises
from pandemics
from catastrophes
on the contrary
we learn a great deal
for crises
for pandemics
for catastrophes
teach us
who people really are.

My aunt, the doctor,
told me a new joke.
She asked:

Did you hear the WHO
has picked a Greek letter
for H5N1 in cattle?

I said, I did not know that.
And so she replied.

Yes, they’re calling it
Mu.

And then neither of us laughed.

I asked my cousin
the university student
if she and her friends
are worried
about what participating
in these protests
might mean for their future
and she replied
that they are worried
about everyone’s future
and that is why
they are protesting.

You will be gone
indeed, we will all be gone,
long before
history has its say
but in the meantime
you can still listen
to what the historians say,
the historians say: worry.

Between coughs
my colleague explains
he has come down
with a bad case
of the early summer flu
and when I ask
if he’s been tested
he insists there’s no need
after all, it’s just a normal case
of the early summer flu
and I want to tell him
that early summer flu
is not a real thing.

After my last lecture
my always-masked student
quietly asked me
if there was a reason
why I had worn a mask
during all of my lectures
and so I told them
that I always wore it
because I have a student
who always wears one.

Sometimes
learning history
will upset you,
and sometimes
learning history
will infuriate you,
and sometimes
learning history
will embarrass you,
but if learning history
only makes you feel
happy and calm and proud
it means that you
still have much to learn
from history.

When they tell you
(and they will tell you)
that only cowards
wear masks in public
reply by telling them
that in these dark times
the bravest thing
any of us can do
is take care of each other.

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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