We have War and Famine on speed dial
and occasionally exchange “wish you were here” e-mails
like old friends rarely gathered in one place these days.
We catch up with each other by watching Anderson Cooper
visit a town shortly after one or two of us have arrived.
This week, we’re stuck at home, quarantined
with some tamiflu and well-wishes by wire
far far far away from being who we are –
Plague and Pestilence should have been out
dancing the night away, doing our best impression
of politicians by shaking hands and kissing babies,
sharing God’s creation with the rest of God’s creation –
so what if this creation is named H1N1?
Let him cast this demonic possession back to the swine
’cause we’re getting better, we’re feeling fine
and life will go on until we are forgotten once more
and we’re in somebody else’s documentary special.
For now it’s Plague, Pestilence, and their cats
staring out the window at a fearful world –
the scythe too heavy to lift,
the weather too warm to bear,
and just considerate enough not to be ourselves.