NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, CORONAVIRUS EDITION

[mrockwell]

Writing

April is National Poetry Month, so here is my offering (coronavirus edition) for your reading pleasure:

WHEN THE VIRUS CAME
by
Marsheila Rockwell

When the virus came for the old people,
You looked, perceived no danger to yourself, and said,
“Well, at least they got to lead full lives,”
And changed absolutely nothing about your behavior.

When the virus came for the overweight people,
You looked, perceived no danger to yourself, and said,
“Well, they should have eaten less and exercised more,”
And changed absolutely nothing about your behavior.

When the virus came for other at-risk people,
You looked, perceived no danger to yourself,
Badly mangled some quote about “acceptable losses,”
And changed absolutely nothing about your behavior.

When the virus came for the healthcare workers,
You looked, worried who’d treat you if you got hurt on the golf course,
Murmured some platitudes about “heroes” and “sacrifice,”
And changed absolutely nothing about your behavior.

When the virus finally came for you,
We looked, safe in our homes where we’d done our best to stay,
Said, “Karma’s a bitch, innit?”
Then did our best to help you anyway, because we’re not assholes.

END

Everything Else

We are all okay. Have been quarantined for a while due to possible exposure to someone who tested positive, but no one is sick and we have not yet descended into cannibalism.

Hope you are all as well as you can be, and I hope we see each other on the other side of this. Stay safe. Much love to you all.