https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2021/08/wep-2021-continues-artistic-inspiration.html
I haven't written poetry in almost two decades. Which is odd, since I was very dedicated to it before. Won awards and everything.
My life is very messed up right now. My soul hurts. I have two immediate family members who found out they have very serious cancer THIS MONTH. Oh, and it's my 42 birthday on Saturday. 🎂
So I know this isn't very good. I know there's basically nothing left inside me.
I am in America.
This isn't going to be award-winning. This is more that I'm screaming into the void and am SO TIRED of fighting misinformed people. Freedom of Speech is me writing this and publishing it, sharing it with you. Sort of an abstract take on the prompt.
😷💉 Put the mask on and get the vaccine if you can!
SARS-CoV-2 is an abbreviation for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as Covid-19 for Dec 2019 when it was first identified in; sometimes shortened to Covid or The Covid.
50 nm to 140 nm - That's the size of the Covid virus. One nanometer (1 nm) is equal to 0.000000001 meter.
🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ 🛈💁ℹ
Bullets or Blood Cells
What if Covid wasn't so small?
Nanometers are invisible to the naked eye.
We cannot harm them with our full-size weapons.
No wooden stake, silver bullet, or iron sword will pierce it.
Yet it can harm us.
To death. To extinction.
It floats on the air.
Or lies on a surface there.
Waiting.
Created with a patience
Beyond what most humans possess.
What if it was larger?
Visible to the eye.
The size of a rat or a soda can.
What then would people do?
Would there be a vaccine?
Training instructions for our own cells inside.
Would you decide to get two shots?
Or load your gun
And fire at will?
How many Americans would not be dead
If Covid could be seen?
If the NRA held rallies
To kill the virus clean?
Which side of the aisle
Might we stand on then
If bearing arms was the savior instead?
What if it were bee size?
If it were an insect with a head.
The government would spray
To cover all our ground
But for two weeks you'd need to stay indoors
And masks need be worn
Would you quarantine then?
But Covid is not big,
Though its impact is.
That which we cannot shoot
Is considered fake to many
We won't send a blood cell
In our gun hands' stead
Better that we wait and die
Covid wins in the end?
- Jamie Aug 2021
Amazing! I'm swept off my feet by your poem. I was reading and nodding to myself: Yes, yes, so true.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the cancer in your family. My best wishes to you and yours. The medicine is good these days. Many cases of cancer are treatable, and even if the doctors can't cure the damned disease, they can send it into remission for years.
Hi Jamie - this is excellent and I'm sure tells the American tale ... we have some similarities here ... Covid does seem to be winning, but I hope the jabs we're getting (are able to get by being here in the UK) will keep it at bay. Common sense is, and generosity of thought is needed by the world's population. Stay safe from this.
ReplyDeleteRe Olga's comment ... I hope the cancer can be treated - with thoughts for you and the family ... Hilary
Well done. I'm also annoyed with people who refuse to listen to science and learn. I think the premise in your poem is spot on. Some can't believe what they can't see. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteSending positive and healing vibes to your family members. Happy birthday!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI like your poem. It expresses a reality that is going on right now in the whole world and not just in the USA.
Excellent job.
Shalom aleichem
Yes to your poem, so spot on. The first verse with all those 'mediaeval remedies' is a fab contrast to the modernity in the rest. I like that you enlarge the virus as a way of combatting it and showing us how ridiculous it is to not fight it. In short, very good poem!!! The only thing I stumbled over is the "insect with a head" ... yes insects of course have heads, need it be said? ... maybe insect with a face? Or maybe it's just me not being English (I'm Danish) that makes me miss something.
ReplyDeleteI am baffled by the resistance to the vaccine, but this made so much sense. Still, how stupid are the masses that get into fist fights over masks, and those who pretend they've gotten the vaccine by passing off fake vaccine cards. Beyond me. Thanks for making it clear! Really well done!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your family members. Cancer is a terrible thing.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is really great. I can believe you used to win awards. Also living in America, I'm constantly astounded in how much people refuse to believe what the science shows them. If they can't see it and need to rely on experts to convey the information, I guess it's easier to write off as a lie.
Well done!
Great poem, very topical and conveys a sense of helplessness poignantly. It's a shame that there are vaccines going waste in the USA and on the other side of the world people who desperately want the vaccine can't get any.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about the cancer in your family. Wishing you, and them, strength for the days ahead and a good outcome. My mum survived cancer and lived for 36 years beyond it, but we didn't know that when she was first diagnosed, so I can understand what you're feeling.
Hiya Jamie. What a thoughtful poem written with passion. There's so much about the reaction to the virus which doesn't make any sense at all. How can people still be denying it? Refusing vaccines?
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about the cancers in your family. As others have said it is no longer a death sentence so hopefully this will be the case for your loved ones. Keep us posted ...
Love the idea Jamie. You really need to get back to poetry! I think you are right… it is so much easier to fight a visible enemy. That’s also what makes fighting character flaws so difficult… in this case ignorance! (That which we cannot shoot
ReplyDeleteIs considered fake to many) . Well done, a great take on the prompt.
Hope that your family members are able to be treated. Wishing you and them strength and perseverance.
Happy Birthday!
Carole
Hi Jamie. How well you've brought out our foolhardiness by comparing the virus to something more prominent in size and visibility. Yes, we would certainly be wary then. Why not now?
ReplyDeleteI wish your family members a good recovery and may you all be well. Take care.
Great poem. There is as much information as there is misinformation about Covid, vaccines, who, why and how to stop it, your writing hits home. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYes - freedom to say what you think about Covid to those who believe it isn't here. Very topical and spot on. Poetry is such a great way to express oneself, specially when the situation is as frustrating as this. Sending you hope and strength for your loved ones diagnosed with cancer.
ReplyDeleteA strong point about the various misconceptions about the Covid virus and the accompanying misinformation about its vaccine. Well done.
ReplyDeleteFun take on "size matters." Maybe we should be glad it isn't big enough to shoot. How much extra violence would happen if it were? "Oh, I didn't shoot him, I was aiming at a Covid."
ReplyDeleteVery topical and tragically apt, when hospitals are bursting with Covid victims who expressed their Freedom by not getting vaccinated. Nicely crafted.
ReplyDeleteHousebound in a wheelchair, but someone is coming today to give me my second shot.
I think as a total entity human community is able to withstand viruses and bacteria. We will survive Covid also and increase our population further. Coming from A to Z. Hello THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT - F.W.Taylor
ReplyDelete