In the Time of Pandemic - Bill Greenwood

[Larry Robinson]

In the Time of Pandemic
 
It is the time of virus and testing,
of outbreaks and epicenters, 
time of rates of infection
and death tolls of loved ones.
 
It is the time of face masks
and closures, of quarantines
and distance to flatten
alarming bell curves.
 
And it is the time of desperate
shopping and panicky selling,
of markets collapsing,
of gun sales booming.
 
Faced with such facts,
what does our populist leader do
but stand up to the cameras
and bully the Press.
He huffs and he puffs
and his great balloon brain
unleashes its forked tongue…
and still his apologists cheer.
 
Oh woe is my country.
Here sheltered in place,  
armed with no medical knowledge,
no wealth or position,
no radio program or newspaper column,
no podcast or facebook,
locked down and stymied,
I mine what little I know:
 
That lies come home to roost
at the door of their maker.
That the goldfinch of truth
can be trusted to sing.
 
That dear ones we’ve lost
bequeath us the memory
of what made them beloved,
and aspiring to give new life
to these very qualities is all we have
now to requite our better angels.

	- Bill Greenwood