I saw a headline
which alarmingly noted:
“Urgent warning
of long Covid symptoms
as number of cases
rise in UK,”
but here, across the pond,
things are quite different,
yes, here we know
that the way to avoid
a rising number of cases
is to just stop counting them.
At the meeting he apologized
for having forgotten my name
but he noted that he knew
we had met before,
because he remembered
that I still wear a mask,
and though I wanted to say
that I was pleased to hear
I had made a good impression,
instead: I just told him my name.
People keep telling me
they are worried
that during
the pandemic
far too many people
lost it.
And
I keep telling people
I am worried
that during
this ongoing pandemic
far too many people
caught it.
Recent analysis finds:
“the number
of competitive grants
awarded by
the National Institutes of Health
is down by more than half
compared with
the same period last year,”
and though it’s true
that funding NIH grants
is expensive,
not funding them
will cost us even more.
According to the data
we are currently seeing
the lowest level
of daily COVID infections
that we have seen in years:
217,000 new daily infections,
and though I know
this is good news,
I can’t help but feel that
217,00 new daily infections
is still very bad news.
As we discussed the news
my work friend asked
if I ever feel like we
are all just stuck
in an episode
of the Twilight Zone,
but I replied that no,
I do not ever feel that way,
for I know
that Twilight Zone episodes
do not last this long.
Listen:
if you keep trying,
one of these weeks
you’ll find the right words,
you’ll find the right deeds,
to convince people
that they need
to take care of each other.
It might even be next week,
if you keep trying,
so keep trying,
please, my friend, keep trying.
When I hear my students
refer to the 1990s
as “the late 1900s,”
I sigh and think to myself:
“it doesn’t feel like that
was so long ago.”
And
when I hear my students
refer to 2019
as when the pandemic began
I sigh and think to myself:
“it feels like that
was so long ago.”
I know, my cautious friend,
that at this point
you are probably tired
of wearing a mask,
but remember, my friend,
it is better to wear
a plague barrier,
than it is to become
a plague bearer.
*
The 318th week of plague poems…
librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/p...
I know you are overwhelmed
by all the bad news of late,
but, nevertheless,
you should be aware
that the CDC is warning
about an increase in infections
of a drug-resistant infection
that can cause severe diarrhea,
which unfortunately
is just more truly shitty news.
As we waited
by the copy machine
my colleague said
she was glad it was Friday
as every day this week
has felt like a Monday,
and in response
another colleague stated
that since 2019
each and every single day
has felt like a Monday,
and in response
I just adjusted my mask.
My aunt, the doctor,
told me a new joke.
She asked:
Do you know why
they haven’t named
any of the Covid variants
with the abbreviation AI?
I said I did not know.
So she replied:
Because AI
is already the name
of a plague on humanity.
And then neither of us laughed.
A review notes
“Post-COVID-19 condition
encompasses
persistent symptoms
including headache,
cognitive impairment,
fatigue,
sleep disturbances,
dysautonomia,
pain and psychiatric disorders,”
so while these are
post-COVID conditions,
we are not
a post-COVID society.
When I asked
how her semester is going
the professor told me
she’s used to
students getting sick
with “senioritis”
around this time of the year,
but she’s not used
to getting so much
official documentation
from the student health center
around this time of the year.
Between suspicious sneezes
a colleague assured me
that it was just allergies.
Between wet coughs
another colleague assured me
it was just a cold.
And while I appreciated
their assurances, I decided
not to sit between them.
I keep hearing people say
that this pandemic
broke our society,
that this pandemic
profoundly broke our society,
and while that may be
I cannot help but think
that what this pandemic
has truly done to our society
is reveal
just how profoundly broken
it already was.
I know, my friend,
that with everything going on
you probably feel
like you are about to collapse,
but according to the news
“Critical Atlantic current
significantly more likely
to collapse than thought,”
so just know
you are not the only one
on the brink of collapse.
I remember hearing
in the pandemic’s first year
that it was providing us
that it was providing all of us
with a lesson
in the fragile nature
of international supply chains,
but based on the news
it would seem that is a lesson
many of us failed to learn.
When you hear people say
that at the moment they have
“no gas in their tank,”
it could be they are using
this colloquialism to say
that they are very tired,
but given rising costs
there is also a chance
that they mean it literally.
I know
you don’t want
to hear this
but at this point
you don’t need
to wear a sweater,
I am sorry if hearing that
breaks your heart
And I know
you don’t want
to hear this
but at this point
you do still need
to wear a mask,
I am sorry, but this virus
can break your heart
A recent study investigated
“Negative social ties
as emerging risk factors
for accelerated aging,
inflammation, and multimorbidity,”
and while I guess it means
I should apologize
for being a “negative social tie,”
at least I try to be a
tested negative for Covid social tie
By now
you have certainly heard
about how we are in
“festival season,”
which means that soon
you will certainly be hearing
about how we are in
“what’s the weird illness
everyone picked up
while attending festivals?” season.
When I asked my friend
who knows about economics
about the present moment
he said we’re in for
a broad decline
in economic activity.
And when I asked my friend
who knows about history
about the present moment
she said we’re in for
a broad decline
a very broad decline.
People keep telling me
that they were willing
to take precautions
during the pandemic,
and so I keep replying
that is also why
I am still willing
to take precautions now.
It would seem
that I am losing patience,
for when the man in front of me
asked why I was masked
I promptly replied:
“so I can outlive my enemies,”
and based on the expression
the man made in response
it would seem
that was one of my better
responses to that question.
An open note
to the astronauts
from the Artemis II:
I know you had hoped
(well, probably hoped)
that the world
you came back to
would be better than it was
when you left it,
but I regret to inform you
that it is sadly not the case.
As the week begins
I often wonder how it is
that all of us
just keep going to work
when everything
is falling apart.
And as the week begins
I often wonder
if part of the reason
why everything
is falling apart
is that all of us
just keep going to work.
Did a whole civilization
die this week,
never to be brought back?
No, a whole civilization
did not die this week
never to be brought back.
But please remember
your whole civilization
will never be brought back
to where it was
before this week.
If I recall correctly
it was around this point
six years ago
when everyone realized
they would need
to cancel their summer plans,
and while it would be wrong
to say history
is literally repeating,
it seems like everyone I talk to
is canceling their summer plans.
I know, my cautious friend,
that at this point
you are probably tired
of wearing a mask,
but remember, my friend,
it is better to wear
a plague barrier,
than it is to become
a plague bearer.