A Virus Among Us — a poem by Bill Byrne
This covid19, it just maybe inspires us
With a grudging respect for this fugitive virus
It’s the direst of viruses we’ve ever seen
Reeking havoc that rivals the one in ’18
We are ordered for now to shelter in place
In our own home’s entrusted embrace
Safe from, harm, safe from neighbor
Safe for a time from our places of labor
It seems as if even the simplest of tasks
Requires the donning of surgical masks
And as if growing old was enough to endure
It’s the old who are most in need of a cure
My hands have I scrubbed so often today
That I’ve come to revere them in a new way
I’ve distanced myself from my nearest of kin
What I have become is an aging shut-in
The markets continue their steepest decline
We can’t even recline and enjoy a fine dine
The church where I worship is eerily shuttered
The hymnals are stowed; the sermons unuttered
My pharma continues and can’t be undone
But my doctoral visits are now done by phone
When a vaccine is found that is highly desirous
Then maybe, just maybe we’ll harness this virus
My life has been changed in myriad ways
A sober reminder that lingers and stays
I hope what this teaches isn’t just academic
What nobody needs is another pandemic
is this in your town?
By Bill Byrne
A Virus Among Us added by James Newell on
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