Subjects wrap themselves in poetry
Today, practically every consideration pales
In comparison with
Tens of thousands infected, thousands dead
Hospitals past capacity, protective gear spent, exhausted
Medical professionals sick, exposed
Failed containment
Considerations pale in comparison with COVID-19
You used to be IT if you had
A Cabbage Patch Doll
And liked Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
Or were hip in the bar
There was even a word for it—
“Trendy,” and yet people were
I wasn’t anybody until I went to Harvard
Yet, things in this world matter
Mean something even in COVID-19
It’s hard to play Mozart piano sonatas, now
But they matter, and my new book of Confucius’ Odes
(Ordered online, in social isolation)
The wind blows a lot of chaff away
In these days
As it carries the virus
Through the entire world
And wraps words around itself
David Fekete 