My aunt, the doctor,
told me a new joke.
She asked:
Did you hear
that the CDC
is pausing testing
for rabies, smallpox,
and monkeypox?
And when I asked
for the punchline
she just replied:
No, this is real
it’s not an April Fool’s joke.
And then neither of us laughed.
On most days
as I look at the news
I think what I’m seeing
has to be
some kind of joke,
though of course I know
it is not.
But on this day
as I look at the news
I think what I’m seeing
perhaps really could be
some kind of joke,
though of course I know
it is not.
A note of clarification:
it is incorrect to say
that we
are going back to the moon,
for most of us
(really all but four of us)
are staying here on earth,
though how many of us
in this wretched moment
are jealous of those few
about to flee this rock.
I know, my cautious friend,
that when you find yourself
being snickered at
as the only masked person
in the room
you may feel slightly foolish,
but remember, my cautious friend,
that those who are acting
like this pandemic is over
are just fooling themselves.
When you hear
“The European Commission
has urged people
to work from home,
drive and fly less”
due to the current crisis,
it may feel like
we’re where we were
6 years ago
and history is repeating,
but we are here, not there,
history is not repeating
it’s getting worse.
When you hear it said
(and you will hear it said)
that the world is facing
“an economic
COVID-19 infection,
and it's spreading,”
please keep in mind
that at this moment
COVID-19 infections
are spreading as well.
I will admit
at times when I look
at the price
of masks and test kits
I think it would be cheaper
to just stay in.
And I will admit
of late when I look
at the price
of gasoline
I think it would be cheaper
I think it would be much cheaper
to just stay in.
Should they respond
to the concerns you voice
by noting that humanity
has survived
worse than this before,
tell them your concern
is not for humanity
which will survive,
but for the humans
who will not.
When your friends ask
how we will get through
the coming crisis
tell them:
“the same way we got through
the pandemic,
by taking care of each other,”
and when they reply
that we have not
actually gotten through
the pandemic,
calmly and firmly tell them:
exactly.
A friend sent me pictures
of the signs she saw
at the protest in her city:
there were funny signs,
there were serious signs,
there were colorful signs,
there were artistic signs,
but by far the best sign
in any of those pictures
was how many people
were wearing masks.
