NOBODY WOULD SAY IT WAS COVID

Nobody Would Say It Was Covid

She died of a

Of pneumonia,

I was told. But

She wasn't sick

And then she was,

And died almost

Instantly, like

This wind came in

Through the tall

Ornate french

Doors and the

Windows in

Her nursing home.

And people like

Her instantly

Were afflicted

A month before

Covid officially,

But nobody would say

It was Covid.

All these septic

Happened in a

In record time,

But in their minds

It certainly

Wasn't the Life

Care Center in

Seattle, so

And it wouldn't

Happen in a

Like this ever

In a million

So like other

Nobody knew

What to do, so

She had to be

Cremated and

By the time any

Thing was done the

World was placed on

Brief hold, and there

Was no way it

Got there, so nobody

Would say it was

Covid. That part

Didn't make much

Sense, because this

Wasn't far from

Seattle, a

Few hundred miles

East. But nope, wasn't

In the air then

From the email

The state sent me

Was basically

Standard response

They probably

Gave everyone

At that time, but

Didn't answer

The real question!

Just said, sorry for

Your loss, blah blah

Threw their explanation

In the trash where

It belonged, next

Telling me I was

Long lost heir of

This prince, please

Them a cashiers

Check for $1000

And be blessed for

Because not even

The state nor its

Governor would

Say it was Covid.

Six months later,

Services were

A far cry from

Horse drawn carriage,

Carrying her

Over rolling hills

Of wheat bending

In the warm breeze,

To her resting

Place next to my

I'm sure there are

Many stories

Like this one. The

Fact is that in

Twenty twenty,

The year this all

It became too

Political to

Think in terms of

Being more human,

Though humans

Had become too

Political, and nobody

Would say it was Covid.

Half a world

Away, he was

Diagnosed, but

Was so great he

Came back home and

Told them he would

Fight the pain alone,

In his home, with

His cello, straining

To remember the

But nonetheless

He’d play concertos;

And when people

Would ask he would

Tell them he’s okay;

Why he’d say this,

Only he knows, but

It’s what he wanted,

So nobody would

Say it was covid.

Had all the symptoms

But one doctor said

A test he took,

12 weeks after

he first had symptoms

March twenty twenty,

Was negative.

Never mind he had

Ancestry linked

To bad outcomes,

Or that she had

Or you had, or

He couldn’t breathe

Or sleep or eat

Or drink and there

All over him

But again, this

Test is definitive,

So nobody would say

It was covid.

Not wearing no

Fuckin masks

We’re patriots!

one post said, the

Old man was

Being held

Upright by an

Oxygen tank,

In his garage

Swinging a golf

Somewhere in

The midwest.

Not gonna let

This damn thing

Tell me what

I can do!

Then passed away

The next day at

And the obit

Said it was from

Flu Complications,

But nobody,

Not even the

Newspaper nor

The family

Nor the mayor

Would say it

Was covid.

More important

To save face and

Blast away more

Memories in

The name of some

Thing else that has

little to do with

Any disease,

An affliction that

Became all too

Even though it

Was still early

Twenty twenty,

And seedlings of

Were sprouting into

Full blown disease

And in the end,

Even after all

This sorrow and

Loss and tragedy

In twenty twenty

One, the numbness

Followed by a

Piercing anger

Resulting from the

Loss of over half

A million humans,

You would think more

Would ask questions

about loved ones, take

The leaders to task

For making stupid

Decisions which

Took more loved ones

From us, but nobody

Would say it was covid.

Instead, before it

Became too late to

Explain this, they said

It resulted from

Heart attacks,

Cancer, kidneys

Failing, anything

Even suicide.

So personal grudges

Were taken instead

Of double masks,

And pure science

Was hurled in the

Bonfires with ire,

Even while taking

The pulpit in

God’s name we pray,

And bray Amen.

Dividing brothers,

Cancelling friends,

Reeling from pain

In these last possible

Moments, kneeling

At the altar of

The almighty good

And righteous saint,

Where nobody would

Say It was covid.

[From the book COVID ZOMBIES, COPYRIGHT 2021.]

#longhaulers