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

I’ve heard it said
(by a prominent doctor)
that this pandemic
“did not have to be
as bad as it was,”
and they are right
it did not have to be
as bad as it was,
though I would add
it does not have to be
as bad as it still is.

*

The experts
at the World Health Organization
say that the pandemic
reversed a decade
of life expectancy gains
and though I do not know
how many years I have left
I know they are right
for thanks to the pandemic
I know to expect less
much less
from life in this society.

*

When you see the headline
(and you will see the headline)
“Covid will still be here
this summer.
Will anyone care?”
Know that the answer
to this question
is not rhetorical,
yes, many someones will care,
the real question
is if they will care
before it is too late for them.

*

Perhaps on some future day
we will look back and memorialize
all the lives
that were lost in the pandemic,
a day of commemoration
with sales on tires and mattresses
or with backyard barbecues,
but that day is far off
for now just concern yourself
with surviving to see it.

*

Editorial Note: This is a collection of Plague Poems written between May 25, 2024 and May 31, 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.

*

From a prominent scientist
I have heard it said
that another pandemic
is “absolutely inevitable”
and while I suppose,
in a historic sense, it is true,
that another pandemic
is “absolutely inevitable”
that does not mean that we
should be trying to provoke one.

*

My friend
(the one in academia)
keeps droning on about
the collapse
of the academic job market
and though I try to sympathize
and though I try to listen
I keep getting distracted
by all the evidence
that we are in the midst of
the collapse
of the world as we knew it.

*

You have probably heard
that the poor mice
who were fed raw milk
contaminated with bird flu
became infected with the virus
but, please, do not worry
those unfortunate mice
were deliberately fed
contaminated milk
and surely no humans
would be foolish enough
to drink that.

*

Let’s be honest:
the merchandise at concerts
costs far too much
45 dollars for a t-shirt,
75 dollars for a sweatshirt,
30 dollars for a poster,
too much too much too much
but by far the most costly
souvenir you can leave with
Is a case of the virus.

*

The ecologist warned
that it is a dangerous thing
how avian influenza
is infecting mammals
currently dairy cows
but also seals and sea lions
foxes and otters
badgers and squirrels
skunks and bears
and though the risk to you
at this time is low
remember:
you too are a mammal.

*

According to the news
millions of chickens
in Iowa
will have to be killed
due to avian influenza
meanwhile
according to the news
numerous chickens
in Honduras
have died
due to extreme heat
but if you express
worry or concern
about either event
people will call you
chicken.

*

He has a bad cold
really, more of a case of the flu,
but he insists it’s nothing
it’s not a big deal
after all, he insists, that everyone
always gets sick
with a bad cold or flu
at the start of the summer
and before I can stop myself
I reply, no, they don’t.

*

The article woefully noted
“progress in heart failure deaths
reversed over past decade”
with COVID as a likely culprit,
and though I know
this isn’t what they meant
I can’t help but think
“heart failure deaths”
is a good way of describing
the lives lost
to our lack of empathy.

*

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

How bad is it
right now?

I said I did not know.
So she said:

It’s so bad
that when you see the headline
“Officials investigate
unusual surge in flu viruses
in Northern California”
you pray
it’s just Covid.

And I didn’t laugh.

*

Listen, everyone knows,
if you mess with the bull
you get the horns
but these sick dairy cows
are not bulls
and so it’s obvious
we don’t need to worry
about getting the horns,
no, we don’t need to worry
about getting the horns,
we need to worry
about getting something worse.

*

According to a recent study
years after initial infection
COVID can cause
new health problems to appear
which is a reminder
that we will be learning
to live with this virus
for a very long time.

*

You must not panic
in response to the news
that a third person
has contracted avian influenza,
no, the time to panic
is not in this moment
in which each new case
is a newsworthy event,
no, you will know
that it is time to panic
when we start to lose count
of all the new cases.

*

I asked my friend
the historian
how this day will be remembered
and after a moment she replied
that she is worried
today’s most significant event
might turn out to be
a sick dairy worker
experiencing respiratory symptoms.

*

I am not panicking
no, I am not panicking,
for the experts insist
that even now
with three confirmed cases
the risk remains low
however, I am worrying
yes, I am worrying
for even now
I can still remember
back when there were only
three confirmed cases
of COVID-19.

*

The headline stated
that due to the new variants
“you will catch Covid again”
and though I recognize
that my words
have less reach than a headline
please understand
that it is not that “you will”
bur rather that “you might”
so you might as well try
not to catch it.

*

When I asked my aunt
the doctor
how worried I should be
about the third case
of a dairy worker contracting
avian influenza
she explained it is important
to understand
that the third case detected
does not mean
there are only three cases,
and I found this to be
a worrisome answer.

*

Apologies
but polite complacency
will not save you,
stop trying to learn
to live with the virus,
it will only take advantage
of your earnest attempts
to accommodate it
in your daily life,
stop trying to learn
to live with the virus
devote yourself instead
to outliving it.

*

*

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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