The pandemic unfolds, relentlessly
Hiding here and there, shamelessly
Guerilla tactics in the crowded jungle
An uninformed battle line can only bungle
So we are back to commodity trading
Peddling wares whose glamour is fading
Selling systems which worked in yesteryear
Declaring of home-grown innovation, real fear
Mentally and emotionally we are at the ceiling
Tomorrow may bring the unknown feeling
Living in the past, we go back to school
Trying to see, who’s the bigger fool
When AIDS hit, we rallied our front line forces
MERS and SARS followed the same courses
The text book on this one has not been written
So with Hydroxychloroquine we remain smitten
Disaster, devastation, death and destiny
Headlines, slay us every day
Not since some time-past history
Were people stricken - this terrible way
Self-isolate and stay indoors
Restrictions with fines or time away
No longer can we feed our mores
But food and exercise, work is ok
It feels surreal, it's like a dream
Financial stuff, we handled well
Chook flu, SARS, MERS, seen and been
Covid-19, time will tell
Early, people reason slipped
Control and manners something past
Basic items scare or clipped
A moment there, then taken fast
Masks, gloves - social distance we make
Two in number is allowed
Border closures, states do make
Vaccine will find - government avows
Pain and hurt is spread worldwide
Striking elder, and also young
Doctors, careers, no place to hide
From bats in Asia, they say it sprung
It's early days and seems ok
But time to come, will tell
Hope is governed, by news each day
Life, by the toll of the bell
SAID THE PANDEMIC aren't you afraid yet
I've been around a long time.
They call me SARS, MERS and now COVID-19.
Take precautions,
be clean and careful
for I descend like an Omen.
Sneezing,
coughing,
bone chilling hot temperatures
that destroy your lungs
and even your heart.
I can be Deadly!
I am the result of human misjudgment and interjection,
from consuming the forbidden,
overuse of antibiotics,
and chemical experiments to name a few.
You know they created me.
So do yourself a favor,
eat lots of veggies,
fish, black seed oil,
take your vitamins,
anything to boost your wimpy immune systems,
because I refuse to be treated lightly.
I do show up without knowledge,
travel in thin air,
spreading by the slightest of touches,
even lingering for a while,
wherever you may leave me,
on cart handles,
door knobs,
counter tops,
wash rooms,
just about any and everywhere.
So be Cautious and Aware,
for yes I AM DEADLY
and will take you
before your time.
COVID-19
Disaster, devastation, death and destiny
Headlines, slay us every day
Not since some time-past history
Were people stricken - this terrible way
Self-isolate and stay indoors
Restrictions with fines or time away
No longer can we feed our mores
But food and exercise, work is ok
It feels surreal, it's like a dream
Financial stuff, we handled well
Chook flu, SARS, MERS, seen and been
Covid-19, time will tell
Early, people reason slipped
Control and manners something past
Basic items scare or clipped
A moment there, then taken fast
Masks, gloves - social distance we make
Two in number is allowed
Border closures, states do make
Vaccine will find - government avows
Pain and hurt is spread worldwide
Striking elder, and also young
Doctors, careers, no place to hide
From bats in Asia, they say it sprung
It's early days and seems ok
But time to come, will tell
Hope is governed, by news each day
Life, by the toll of the bell
WILLIAM HANCOCK
02 APRIL 2020
HAIBUN
You are electron microscopic size, but you possess infinitesimal power. Just a single strand of encapsulated RNA, yet you and your brothers SARS and MERS can sicken and kill more complex life.
Covid-19, virion unseen
Bring humans to their knees
Cowering and trembling
You spring up suddenly from nowhere and spread like fire in a parched forest. Devastating stock markets, stopping sports teams, halting concerts and forbidding gatherings over 250 souls. Quarantines of ships and planes. People greedily grasping, fighting and clawing for the important things in life: toilet paper, masks, cleaning supplies, paper towels.
A boon to corporations
Johnson and Johnson, Proctor and Gamble
Secretly happy you are around.
World wide you spread, showing no regard for race, boundaries or politics.
Italians, Iranians, Chinese,
Americans, Norwegians,
Japanese, Brazilians
The world caught unprepared. Scientists scrambling to develop a vaccine. All will breathe a sigh of relief when you cease your rampage. That is until you return, mutated, the same but different and we start all over again.
I met two aliens once. They were poets
like me, I mean, a poet and a poetess.
Their language sounded like music, though its
gender distinction wasn't hard to notice.
She’s from the Venus, he is from the Mars.
They speak different languages like us.
***
Below is a translation of the poem "Aliens" into Venusian (a vowel is replaced by the next vowel in alphabetical order):
O mit twu eloins unci. Thia wiri puits
loki mi, O mien, e puit end e puitiss.
Thior lengyegi suyndid loki mysoc, thuygh ots
gindir dostonctoun wesn't herd tu nutoci.
Shi's frum thi Vinys, hi os frum thi Mers.
Thia spiek doffirint lengyegis loki ys.
Below is a translation of the poem "Aliens" into Martian, (a consonant is replaced by the next consonant in alphabetical order):
I nev vxo amiept opde. Vjey xese qoevt
mile ne, I neap, a qoev apf a qoevett.
Vjeis maphuahe toupfef mile nutid, vjouhj ivt
hepfes fitvipdviop xatp'v jasf vo povide.
Tje't gson vje Weput, je it gson vje Nast.
Vjey tqeal figgesepv maphuahet mile ut.
My four-year-old grandson is all about singing
While he swings today
Singing funny songs at first, but now a serious one
About a grandma and how much he loves her
Making my head swell.
We have already played who is the best grandma in the world?
And I won.
And who is the best grandpa in the world
My very smug husband won that one.
He begins singing about his friend
Gramma Kinney, who used to go to preschool with him
And is now at his daycare center.
“Gramma Kinney?” I ask him
He stops singing. “Repeat this grandma. “Gram.”
“Gram”, I say.
“Mers,” he says, staring at my face, hoping I will be able to.
“Mers,” I say obediently.
“Kin” I love it that he thinks I am this bright.
“Kin,” I repeat.
“Knee,” he says, watching me like I am a two-year-old.
I dare not tell him I could go a bit faster.
“Knee,” I repeat.
“Now put it all together, “he says, waiting, sagely.
“Grammers Kinney?” I ask.
He nods. “Good grandma, good.”
I feel like he is getting me back for all those silly
Songs of appreciation when he finally went on the potty.
Ne m'oublies pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Et je t'aimerai
Jusqu'à ce que les mers disparaissent.
Do not forget me,
Do not leave me,
And I will love you
Until the seas disappear.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.