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

In the early days
of the current pandemic
everyone was sharing a map
which reassuringly showed
the countries best prepared
and the countries least prepared
for a pandemic
but that was long ago
now as we await the next pandemic
we all know our countries
are in the second category.

*

I must have looked nervous
for as I boarded the plane
the stewardess joked
that I didn’t need to worry
“this plane isn’t a Boeing”
but in truth I was more worried
about the rows of maskless faces.

*

When asked
four years ago today
why he wasn’t more prepared
for the pandemic
the president said he had
“a lot of things going on”
and if you are wondering
why more isn’t being done
to be more prepared
for an H5N1 pandemic
just know our leaders have
“a lot of things going on.”

*

History will remember this
at least that is what
we tell ourselves
while the world drowns
in crises and calamities
that show how we
refuse to remember history.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between May 4, 2024 and May 10, 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.

*

When they reply to you
(and they will reply to you)
by pleading
“let’s not talk about politics”
politely remind them
that refusing
to talk about politics
is itself a significant way
of talking about politics.

*

The study warned
“Each reinfection
contributes additional risk
of Long Covid,”
two infections
yield a higher risk than
one infection,
three infections
yield a higher risk than
two infections,
but this doesn’t frighten us
for we have all lost track
of what infection we’re on.

*

Is it time to panic?
No, it’s not time to panic.
But when the CDC asks
for personal protective equipment
to be made “available to workers
on dairy farms, poultry farms,
and in slaughterhouses”
it is probably time for you
not to panic, but
to order more respirators.

*

Our would be emperors
are not naked
they are still robed
in many colorful layers
our would be emperors
are not naked
though at this point
they have taken off
their masks.

*

The under secretary
for food safety at the USDA
says, “we are pretty sure
that the meat supply
is safe,”
and though I understand
this is meant to be reassuring
I am pretty sure
that now is a good time
to try being a vegetarian.

*

In response to the efforts
to keep an eye on sick cattle
a commissioner has noted:

“It’s overreach.
They don’t need to do that.
They need to back off.”

Which is not a very good haiku,
but in fairness
it also isn’t a particularly good
response to a virus.

*

I know, I know,
of course I know
that there are other crises
to focus on in this moment
but according to a headline
“The U.S. may be missing
human cases of bird flu”
which suggests that soon
we may have yet another crisis
on our exhausted hands.

*

Upon a temporary wall
at the art museum
a simple sign explained:

“The
Gallery of
Conscience
is
CLOSED
for construction”

so if you are wondering
what has become
of our conscience
just know it is a gallery
that is closed for construction
though hopefully it will open soon.

*

Is anyone trying
to make the virus that has jumped
from birds to cattle
jump from cattle to humans?
Don’t be conspiratorial,
no one is trying
to provoke such a calamity.
What you are seeing
is not a nefarious plot
it’s bumbling indifference,
please worry
about the right thing.

*

The WHO
urges us to remain calm
in the unfortunate event
that H5N1 becomes a pandemic
we will be prepared,
for there is already a vaccine
and it could start being available
in four to six months,
but it’s best not to dwell
on how many will not survive
those four to six months.

*

I am not worried
about avian influenza
after all, we’ve had time
to invest in clean air
to strengthen health systems
to educate the public
yes, we have had time,
but we have squandered it
and so I am not worried
about avian influenza
I am terrified.

*

The institutions
you relied on for information
will cease reporting.

The places
where you felt safe
will eliminate precautions.

The friends
you trusted the most
will urge you to move on.

You are not learning
to live with the virus
you are learning
to live with disappointment.

*

I apologize
it has never been my intent
to simply say: be afraid.

No, my intent has been
to simply say: pay attention.

So please, pay attention
for there are reasons
good reasons to be afraid.

*

The more fervently they insist
that avian influenza
only poses a risk
(only really poses a risk)
to farm workers
the more you must remember
that “farm workers”
is just another way
of saying human beings.

*

They that we
aren’t testing enough
not testing nearly enough
for avian influenza
but this shouldn’t be a problem
after all, we have plenty
we really have plenty
of testing capacity
seeing as we are no longer using it
to test for Covid.

*

At the beginning of the pandemic
I believed we would learn
to take care of each other
and though I know it seems
that all we have learned
is to ignore suffering and death,
the pandemic is not over
which means we still have time
in which to learn
to 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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