The Bubble

U.S. anger's rising,
Blowing up on the streets,
Protesting social injustice for blacks,
Defying Trumps' tweets,

Thousands together despite Corona,
This has more importance,
But then, a new spike will arise from this,
Among those with the least life insurance

In a system not engineered to help,
The ones mostly toiling,
At some point all hands will be raised up high,
No, not surrendering,

But in dismay,
For they've had no respite,
Show me another country in the world,
That's facing so much of its people's spite.

The Perfect Storm

It is hard to let go,
In the face of chaos,
A virus clamoring to take us all,
Yet some suffer more loss,

Then in the midst of this, the same old game,
Is played on certain groups,
So they stand up to protest against it,
Only to have to face off against troupes,

Which will exacerbate the pandemic,
Of course, it is worth it,
If this is what it takes to impel change,
Then let us do this shit,

But will things change?
Not a popular ask,
If standing up for yourself does nothing,
Then why bother even wearing a mask?

The Great Divide

The depression is here,
As some gain their freedom,
Others watch as the life that they dreaded,
Is on the horizon,

Not so close if they are not affluent,
Someone's got to be first,
Let us get those with waiting privilege,
Set back up before we release the cursed,

With some restrictions put in place, of course,
Those folks can't be trusted,
If they cannot succeed in a fixed game,
They'll get the house busted,

Left to their own,
They must be monitored,
Lest they ruin it for the one percent,
The ones deciding who can go outdoors.

Sapiens

Have you read Sapiens?
I won't spoil the ending,
It follows the history of humans,
'til two thousand, fourteen,

First off, the cognitive revolution,
Put us a step ahead,
Then farming allowed us to procreate,
Faster than any animal e'er had,

Industry let cow births surpass our own,
Their deaths far exceed that,
Overall our survival seems locked,
Well, climate may react.

Then there's SARS 2,
That didn't exist, yet,
As Harari says, history's one path,
While the future's choice is made with each step.

The Other Illness

What virus killed George Floyd,
In Minneapolis?
The contact trail would not be hard to trace,
Starting with the police,

Causing difficulty breathing in blacks,
Resisting calls to cease,
Others cannot get close enough to help,
Afraid they would contract the same disease,

Death is not diminished with quarantine,
It can break down your doors,
Risks include lack of opportunity,
And chances you'll be poor.

What is the cure?
Nothing's seemed to work, yet,
Compared to it, Covid just can't stand up,
Hundreds of years, countless numbers of deaths.

The Threshold

"It's deeply disturbing,"
What else could Justin say?
Nursing home conditions amid Covid,
Bring disgust and dismay,

Canadian military came in,
To try to help them out,
They found cockroaches, rotten food and flies,
While the pleas from residents left no doubt,

Overworked and probably scared, as well,
Plus, maybe, just not good,
Some employees left patients in their chairs,
Amid their piss and poop.

It is a shame,
The world's fragility,
Never mind when things are the status quo,
Stress on the system leads to travesty.

Wait For It

Long before Corona,
In two thousand and eight,
An economic collapse rarely seen,
Made borrowing cash great,

Money was printed out of thin air,
Then sold for really cheap,
Awaiting the day science came up with,
Some new and lucrative technology,

The world had still been riding that bubble,
When told to go inside,
Keep away from others, lest you get sick,
Best everybody hide,

But don't you see?
Science has hidden, too,
We're waiting for things that will never come,
Did something drop? Oh, there's the other shoe.

The Truth

Yes, we're in the same storm,
Yes, we're in mismatched boats,
One country sneezes, next door gets Covid,
I've read everything wrote,

No one knows its true place of origin,
Or how it all began,
Though many speak guesses as though it's truth,
That's nothing new for you ess presidents,

Yes, there are many worse off than myself,
Much fewer better fair,
That's less a reflection of what I have,
I'm not a trillionaire,

But someone is,
Thanks to the pandemic,
All you need to do is be rich to start,
Then you'd worry less about who is sick.

Please Move

Folks are getting sloppy,
At least the younger ones,
Those who are old enough to know better,
The 'duh' generation,

The weather's nice, so they all want to meet,
In big crowds at the park,
Congregate in illegally-sized groups,
Because SARS does not compare to a lark,

It makes you wonder what they were doing,
Before the sun came out,
I'm sure their actions were no different,
Behind closed doors, no doubt.

What do we do,
The older and the wise?
It's hard to put somebody in their place,
'Fyou can't get closer than six feet to try?

It's Plane To See

How safe is it to fly?
Not like it used to be,
Forget Pakistan flight eight three oh three,
Though it's a tragedy,

What other activity is like it?
Pills packed with travelers,
Sent into the sky where air is so thin,
It's recirculated from bow to stern,

An incubator for what's ailing you,
Passed on from seat to seat,
After touching ground, what is the impact,
For those the flyers meet?

Special package,
I need not speak aloud,
Who of the next generation will boast,
Seeing the sky from the top side of clouds?

They Can't Flee This

The crisis is looming,
In the refugee camps,
New York, the epicenter of Covid,
Can't even hold a lamp,

Compare its population density,
Ten thousand per square click,
To seventy thousand in the same space,
Already very hard not too get sick,

Add the inefficient hospital care,
Plus shared lavatories,
Mix in no money or true quarantine,
Equals catastrophe.

Well, to be fair,
It was dire already,
Seventy million humans round the globe,
Fleeing their own country's hostility.

True Colors

Do you have true colors?
Would I know which they are?
Would I could strip your paint to your bare skin,
Before we're rid of SARS,

It's only to rhyme the virus is named,
The same the other way,
Do you remember your hue when you thought,
This could only last a couple of days?

Now here we are, quarantined forever,
Extended for a month,
Add to the layers a layer of dust,
It's giving me a hunch,

The paint's not dry,
Before a new one's laid,
The moment you're touched, you are all mixed up,
Find yourself before applying new shades.

You're Out

There might be a vaccine,
If those, you do not fear,
Best guess from Harvard doctor Ashish Jha,
In maybe mid next year,

Then how do you distribute to billions?
Assuming that's the goal,
Basic health care is a human right, right?
It would just be insane to answer, no.

He notes that we are in the third inning,
In this Corona game,
Come the seventh inning stretch, let's all hope,
It don't get called for rain,

We need to win,
Then learn from our mistakes,
J.K., I'm sure we will do no such thing,
Let's hope this is the last for all our sakes.

Is It Time, Yet?

Go sixty thousand years,
Back through our history,
There is nothing found that can tell us much,
Though we're not shy to see,

Ourselves in the bones and few stone tools,
Well, who else could there be,
It's like when someone asks who you've become,
I can only ever ever really be me,

Now here we are in this Covid statis,
Like finally it's time,
To be who we were always meant to be,
Though we are past our prime,

Things haven't changed,
Nor have you changed inside,
The most you can do's what you never did,
As all of your dreams and hopes slowly died.

The Next Revolution

Been fifty thousand years,
Since the revolution,
When Sapiens could suddenly think up,
Made-up fabrications,

This led to innovations beyond genes,
The power to gather,
In groups up to one hundred fifty folks,
Because we could gossip about others,

As time went on, we made corporations,
Evolved from religion,
Millions of people brandishing one cause,
With nuclear fission,

Now here we are,
Back to our genes, again,
Will this lead to a new common belief,
That will evolve beyond Capitalism?

The Grand Reopening

The world's reopening,
To salvage capital,
Tourist spots standing empty as I write,
Won't stand the income fall,

Forgiven rents can't be forgiven long,
Where they even had been,
Drastic reductions in factory shifts,
Are hardly relieved by government schemes,

Kagillionaires are fretfully pacing,
For profits have reduced,
Somehow the archetypes of this f'd world,
Have to be disabused.

Let's try this out,
Everything just costs less,
A dollar's worth, say, one hundred times more,
So we can all get a stress free night's rest.

Don't Even Try

There are many people,
Who go to the U.S.
Running from danger from their own country,
Though the trek's perilous,

They come with nothing they worked for back home,
Situation's that grim,
When they arrive, if they're let in at all,
They're kept in a center for detention,

There, it is cramped and unsanitary,
It's humanely unfit,
Covid is spreading there like a wild fire,
'Cause ICE don't give a shit,

Then they're sent back.
What did they get for it?
A deadly virus for all that they owned,
So much for rewards for those who don't quit.

The End of an Era

People knew beforehand,
But what else they could do,
Other than unload stocks that would suffer,
Then call it, 'just a flu',

Then blame the administration before,
For orchestrating it,
Pass laws making the present rich, richer,
Then make their workers essential, to wit?

I am not talking about everywhere,
Just dying dynasties,
Everyone's waiting for normal to come,
But does anyone see,

That normal's gone,
Until we're used to this,
When the world sees that the greatest vaccine,
Is distanced, respectful togetherness.

What Must I Write

I wish I could write you,
What everyone's feeling,
In just this one poem, in sixteen lines,
Then get on with dealing,

With the stress of all this uncertainty.
Is it really that new,
Or have world events stripped the distractions,
That, up to now, always protected you?

It's trite to say that life could end today,
Or rather, used to be,
Is it we don't want to rebuild it all,
That we shun real'ty?

No, you tell me,
What should I write to you,
That will leave us in peace in troubled times,
To figure out what we most want to do.

Let Us Be Grateful

Let us all be grateful,
For what we did not get,
Assuming you are one of those people,
Who are not in great debt,

Assuming you aren't eighty years old,
Held in a nursing home,
A gay teen with hard parents quarantined,
Or refugee living in a war zone.

A worker with the prospect of no job,
For nothing that she did,
Oh, and I guess let's tack on one more thing,
That you don't have Covid.

For all these things,
Plus more that would not fit,
Let us appreciate what we don't have,
Until we find one day that we have it.

A Pause

What is it that you want?
That's something you must learn,
Before complaining that you don't have it,
That it's something you've earned,

The truly successful all are focused,
On what it is they love,
Whether they wrote it down when they were ten,
Or left their fate to a power above,

Both require faith and an unforgiveness,
For who you really are,
Until you realize that, you'll hurt others,
Existing way too far,

From your true self,
The purest of them all,
What a utopia we would live in,
If the government made that essential.

We Are All Comrades

There's not much more to say,
It's a desert landscape,
Either off on the future's horizon,
Or up and forward my nape,

It's like SARS has brought on communism,
A reverse ambition,
Where those who wanted but could never get,
Now are stunted when they have the freedom,

A comment on individual natures,
Oops, I must be careful,
I'm sure there are many success stories,
Exceptions to the rule.

What does that prove?
We're all better of red?
Maybe that if we're all the way we are,
At least we should all be guaranteed fed.

The Chance is Slipping

It looks like that maybe,
The appetite's not there,
For revolutionizing how we live,
Once we get the all-clear,

People have not reconstituted what,
Is left of their old ways,
Taking what they want, leaving out the rest,
Dismissing notions of the good old days,

The chance to re-evaluate your life,
Is now passing you by,
If you had three months to reflect on life,
What new things would you try?

Oh, but you did,
Instead you just waited,
For things to get back to normal, again,
When your misfortune seemed to be fated.

Stage 2

The honeymoon's over,
They say about Covid,
Just look at reactions to sunny days,
'fthe self-isolated,

The reality of death ain't enough,
Beside companionship,
Hordes of folk rendezvousing in the park,
Sitting and drinking in the face of it,

Anxiety's a diff'rent pandemic,
A side-effect, maybe,
How many deaths are a result of it,
And what is the vaccine?

Reality?
It has always been there,
If you're in it no matter circumstance,
Changes in life should be as light as air.

Have You Changed?

What have you been doing,
With all of that free time?
Have you fretted over all you’ve wasted,
As I’ve mourned over mine?

The thing about the world flipping over,
Is that you haven’t changed,
The best you can hope for’s staying healthy,
To find the new world has been rearranged,

To suit the way you’ve always approached it,
When before you would fail,
Now actions are shooting you to the top,
That once would not avail.

Here is hoping,
That you’re a good person,
That this new world that’s risen from the flames,
Is based on universal inclusion.

Another One

It's another Monday,
Another work week starts,
Another day I don't have to commute,
Another burp and fart,

Another day spent in my pajamas,
Another liquid lunch,
Another level in this gaming app,
Hoping to win before the time card's punched,

Another news report about Covid,
Another month added,
Another battle with anxiety,
'bout what your old dad did.

Another thought,
Before Tuesday arrives,
Another day, despite challenges,
That you have faced, and yet you still survive.

The New Weird

Even a pandemic,
Couldn't keep me from you,
Except so far as I have to stay home,
Just like you have to, too,

Thank god this thing cannot last forever,
Or that's what people see,
Who look around with incredulity,
Without a virology Ph.D.

Yet still, we will all learn to live with this,
Plus the others to come,
The new normal can't be weirder than what,
Was just before this one,

So take my hand,
Tell me, how does that feel?
I have to tell you after all these months,
It would be hard to describe it as real.

Brave Old World

Now the fear is growing,
As the risks now subside,
There is security within limbo,
When all must stay inside,

But soon we will be opening the blinds,
Wipe the sleep from our eyes,
Can you really imagine returning,
To your preglobal covid-demic lives?

You may answer categoric'lly, "yes!
"This is no life at all,
"Without a job to go to everyday,
"What can a life be called?"

Well, uhm, just life,
Like what you've been doing,
Assuming you're not one of the many,
Who the economy has left starving.

Start Thinking

Now is the time for hope,
For you have nothing else,
Sure, tons of folk are predicting what's next,
They're thinking of themselves,

Of where they'll be when this is all over,
Hoping ahead of you,
I know, this all sounds so pessimistic,
So please, keep continuing what you do,

Fret over each day's new dire piece of news,
That's stunting all your thoughts,
Be completely unprepared when you're told,
"Your paying job's now not."

It's a new world,
Arrange the fallen shards,
That once formed everything you believed,
Made up your only ever hand of cards.

What's Next?

If you're going to make it,
When this is all over,
When the realities of the new world,
Are finally overt,

When people who still have money to spend,
Can't wait to do just that,
You need to anticipate what they'll want,
So when they look for it, you can react,

Maybe you invent the virtual hug,
Or distancing office,
The cure for having spent too long alone,
With [you fill in the rest].

What will you want,
Once you've freedom, again?
Or are you thinking this is freedom now,
Hoping this pause in life will never end?

Sleepless Nights

Was it always like this,
Fragile and capricious?
One day you see your life for miles and miles,
Then the next day, well, this.

You hear a lot about the storm we're in,
Floating upon the sea,
That, still, we all are in different boats,
But do you think of anyone but me?

Of course you do, for we all have loved ones,
Both close and far away,
If you don't see the point I'm getting at,
I'll try another way,

We are all doomed!
P'haps that's not right, either :)
Patience isn't about waiting it out,
It's knowing one day is already here.

Happy Belated David Hume

Yesterday's your birthday,
But what could we have done?
Certainly nothing like we used to do,
Before the contagion,

Deprived of all the pomp and circumstance,
It was time to reflect,
On all of the things that you used to say,
About perception and cause and effect,

So what would you say about today's plight,
That would be of some use?
Utilitarianism could help,
Uncook this burning goose.

So let's all help,
To the maximum rate,
The most assistance to the most people,
Unencumbered by prejudice or hate.

Are You Ready For The End?

This will all be over,
So, I'll enjoy this time,
Until the world returns to what it was,
I'm just reading your mind,

But what if things actually don't change,
If this is what you've got?
Are there others preparing for that chance,
While you are behaving like it is not?

Or is it you're keeping your position,
You've never wanted much,
You were in the middle when this started,
You aren't in a rush,

To change your ways,
Sure and steady's your race,
Just because the world's diff'rent, you are not,
Maybe the new one will be just your pace.

Dr. Trump

The first drug he prescribed,
Does naught anyone's seen,
I thought at first he might have a stock in,
Hydroxychloroquine,

But then he heard Covid does not do well,
When UV light's present,
So suggested light therapy could work,
With an injection of disinfectant.

Really, he's spewing what comes to his mind,
If that's what's in his head,
"What do you have to lose?", president Trump?
Well, we could end up dead,

With poor treatment,
Which is what you suggest,
If what you say influenced nobody,
How much better we'd be's most people's guess.

Now What?

It's all winding down now,
You can throw off your mask!
Hug the next person you see on the street,
Don't e'en bother to ask,

Share drinks with friends you've not seen for so long,
Tell me, does that feel weird?
Who knows what virus there's that we don't know,
Plus, I was joking that Sars 2 is cleared,

The way we live may never be the same,
Do we even want that?
Even from my privileged perspective,
We should now change our act.

There's always room,
To improve who we are,
Forget material prosperity,
That sets an extremely low moral bar.

Try Getting Out

Take a silent moment,
Focus on your breathing,
If you have a thought, say hello to it,
Then thank it for leaving,

Continue until your whole world is black,
Blacker than it is now,
Stay in that place as long as you're able,
Away from the seclusion or the rows,

Away from the new harsh realities,
Of your true existence,
The place where everybody finds themselves,
When they abandon sense,

Your dream's portals,
To life experience,
Maybe when you return things will have changed,
Perhaps you won't see all this as a mess.

Covid Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day,
I will not drive my car,
Instead, I will stay all day in my home,
Or not venture too far,

I'll not video chat with anyone,
So, no one I will see,
I'll wear the same clothes I wore yesterday,
That I've been wearing for the last twelve weeks,

I'll turn off the tap when washing my hands,
So, about fifteen times,
I'd also bring my own bags to the store,
But they will not use mine.

I'll save paper,
Since I can't buy any,
I've printed the same side so many times,
I now use white ink to read anything.

Just Four Of Them

Of course there were problems,
Before all this began,
People living from paycheck to paycheck,
Well, that's this age's sham,

There were people who had dangerous lives,
Spouses who drank and punched,
But, at least they weren't home all the time,
Now they are angry and they're home a bunch,

Others decided to take big chances,
To try to get ahead,
Perhaps living safely years before that,
Feeling better off dead,

Then there are those,
Who took too long for risk,
Change foisted on them now, not on their terms,
Just four tragedies to come out of this.

Four Hundred and Twenty Deep Breaths

Just don't think about it,
Until the collapse comes,
At least you can live until you cannot,
Like a true champion,

Like someone with a job to go to, still,
Paid one hundred per cent,
Whose loved ones can go out when they want to,
With no fear of a global pandemic,

Someone who's fairly sure of the future,
With no anxiety,
That the country to the south will decide,
To take our secur'ty,

You have for now,
Oh God, just ignore it,
Forget everything you read before this,
It's four-twenty, baby! Focus on it.

What Are You Saying?

What is that old saying?
Ubiquitous out west,
Like, "Another day, another dollar,"
Is that what you had guessed?

I realize now, it could go either way,
When once it seemed so clear,
That dollar could be earned or could be lost,
Depending on the pandemic that year.

Are all sayings some kind of inside joke,
For peasants to be taught?
A bird in the hand's worth two in the bush,
But those ain't worth a lot.

Come on, I kid,
That's sedition, you bet,
The elite prefer to be more overt,
Another day older, deeper in debt.

The Origins

Here is what experts say,
'bout the start of SARS 2,
It did not originate in a lab,
Then brought home by the crew,

Indeed, it was contracted through a bat,
As, too, are millions more,
Diseases you will never hear about,
For they're not ones vaccines are needed for,

It probably came from a wet market,
Perchance, not bat-eating,
Animal diseases start many ways,
By them and folk meeting,

Which happens more,
As humans spread and spread,
A bat could have peed on somebody's food,
They go to market, now thousands are dead.

Is The Time Now?

There're so many people,
Who no longer have jobs,
Experts with skills they have worked so hard on,
This pandemic can't rob,

Like professional athletes without teams,
Oh, there are those as well,
Now's the time, if you have the idea,
To make a company that would excel,

To gather the energetic and smart,
For a noble pursuit,
A venture for those who need a new start,
No virus can refute.

You say, too soon?
Let life first start again?
Of course, assuming that the life you had,
Was built upon an ideal foundation.

Just Ignore This

Holy mother fucker,
Did I say that out loud?
We all need to yell the odd expletive,
Ev-ery then and now,

History is not unfamiliar with,
Catastrophic declines,
I didn't live through the Great Depression,
But it left millions of workers behind,

It was real, and the debate still goes on,
How it even began,
Of all the consequences of Covid,
It could happen again.

Is that too harsh?
Let's not think about it,
It's one of the reasons banks get bailed out,
While the rest of us must wallow in debt.

A Little Comfort

Not to get too morose,
But we all have our days,
When no other outcome's conceivable,
That's not filled with dismay,

The future's tenuous the best of times,
All we have to soothe us,
Is an illusion of control o'er fate,
While knowledge of what's to come's dubious,

What's different now is we're facing the truth,
The naked emperor,
Bereft of distractions from who we are,
What is all of this for?

Forget Covid,
It has always been there,
The chance that your world could be upended,
All you have built vanished into thin air.

Reality Check

Those moments fear returns,
Thinking you'll lose it all,
Not enjoying this new reality,
Prophesying the fall,

Its imminence a foregone conclusion,
Maybe it's trite to say,
But no matter what's happening 'round you,
Your destruction could happen any day,

All you can ever do is do your best,
While hoping for the same,
Of course some circumstances are preferred,
I'm not friggin' insane,

Just hope to help,
The only way I know,
Short of bustling out in this brave new world,
I am too paralyzed by fear to go.

When This Is Done

Maybe it's not alright,
Things won't turn out okay,
Government policies fail to keep,
Destitution at bay,

This economic shock will put us down,
We will not recover,
From the ashes of this society,
We'll have to build some kind new structure,

But who will rise to decide what that is,
Before the elite do,
Those with power from this broken machine,
Who used to oppress you?

Will it be you?
Please try for improvements,
Keep what is good and only discard bad,
Save people's rights and the environment.

The Real You

Do the days feel longer?
You may have had enough,
Is time flying by faster than ever?
You may have had enough,

Will you feel cheated if it all ends now,
For you expected more,
Or will you have come out the worse for wear,
Having lost job, loved ones or a front door?

Have you been inside an epicenter,
Of the contagion,
Or observing, untouched, from the outside,
Hoping it don't come in?

What have you been,
During this force majeure?
If nothing else you will learn who you are,
You have to be yourself, 'til there's a cure.

In Retrospect

Governments knew sooner,
Than when actions were made,
Knowledgeable bodies warned pandemic,
That plans now must be laid,

We had the experience of SARS 1,
I blame short memories,
We all flew and shook hands willy-nilly,
While it hovered far away overseas,

Now we blame WHO for not yelling out loud,
Hey, it's a pandemic,
As if they wouldn't have been laughed of stage,
By the body pol'tic,

In fact, they were,
Vis a vis the U.S.,
Truth be told, there's still laughter in the halls,
Of the mansions of the country-club set.

Get Used To It

This new reality,
Isn't new, anymore,
We're past the curiosity of it,
We're over being bored,

Self-improvement's become annoying,
Runners shunned like the plague,
The only thing we do more than sleep now,
Is line up for things we can barely pay,

We want to interact with friends in flesh,
Not on a TV screen,
We don't want to wash our windows again,
For what there's to be seen,

Just set us free,
Wait, I know that can't be,
It might be that we have to change our minds,
To adjust to this old reality.

Analysing From One Centre

Maybe you have travelled,
Or, maybe you've traveled,
Between two places with different laws,
For when viruses kill,

You might expect your neighbour to help you,
If you were out of food,
But perhaps your neighbor stockpiled his own,
But says if he had some to give, he would,

You might take offence when the rules are shirked,
Of social distancing,
Whereas, in defense of freedom of self,
Others might go dancing,

It's a thin line,
That separates the two,
One holds dialogue twixt people and gov,
While in the other dialog's eschewed,

In The Face Of Adversity

We'll never be the same,
Not that we ever are,
Each day we must face diverse challenges,
That strips one more cover,

From the person that's ultimately you,
Though you are never reached,
Whether dealing with the trauma of death,
Or a man who will never be impeached,

You might lose your job due to pandemic,
You may run out of milk,
Someone might tell you that you're horrible,
This all proclaims your ilk,

Embrace challenge,
What else could living be?
When else are you called to reveal yourself?
I guarantee you will like what you see.

To The Healers

It's just reality,
For everyone you see,
You cross the street to avoid walking close,
It's not effrontery,

You refuse to visit your relatives,
Or have friends come over,
Peak out the curtains if the doorbell rings,
Which rarely happens in this brave new world,

Unspoken awareness of what we know,
No need to spew it out,
We wear masks that we'd eschewed in the past,
We made ourselves, no doubt.

Still people die,
Some see it everyday,
Up close, in the most contagious setting,
In battle, what courage humans display,

Second Chances

This is when things get sad,
If they're not already,
The euphoria of the shock has waned,
Now it's reality,

All the uncertainty of what's to come,
Not knowing when it will,
After all the weeks of self improvement,
You have to acknowledge you're yourself, still.

You didn't do it before, so why think,
You will do it this time?
It's like you've finally got your second chance,
To blame, complain and whine,

But there is more,
The world is on the brink,
P'haps you'll find yourself a different one,
Much more suited to the way that you think.

If This Teaches Us Anything

Could this be the starting,
Of a new kind of life,
One based, not on our perceived differences,
Eliminating strife,

One where we recognize humanity,
As something we all share,
Acknowledging, yes, that many e'er do,
Who sacrifice a better life to care,

But economics doesn't reward that,
Only one's own desires,
What I'm suggesting is that currency,
Would value love higher?

Don't say it does,
Or it would equal pow'r,
If what we're suffering now proves at all,
Is that money for money's sake is dour.

What's Next

Uh oh, what did Trump say?
Knee jerk approach, again,
First the Global Health Security Team,
Was nixed by John Bolton,

Then nary two years later, what happens?
Well, don't have to tell you,
Though maybe someone should have convinced Trump,
Weeks ago, that this is not just a flu,

Now in a flail and the US scrambling,
With no GHST,
He tells 3M, "no masks to Canada."
He say, 'military'?

Well, not quite yet,
They're mostly all abroad,
He will next abandon his foreign "plans",
For the shiny thing makes him feels like God.

Oxford Bags

Groceries cost more, now,
People are making less,
Many have lost their jobs all together,
An uncleanable mess,

Canadians were already in debt,
It is like Oxford Bags,
That book anticipated that the world,
Would have to one day eliminate cash,

Just stamp value on individuals,
Depending what they do,
No one starves, still no one gets farther than,
How they have labelled you.

But before that,
There'll be a lot of pain,
Our children, not knowing what it was like,
Like us, will only have cause to complain.

Taking It Down

I've been doing Qi Gong,
I thought it was Tai Chi,
You would think that all this time to myself,
I could know what I mean,

The one is meant to cure specific ails,
Not the one going round,
The other keeps you healthy in and out,
Body balanced and your mind calm and sound,

This, more than Covid, has toppled my world,
It's under my control!
Next I will find I've been walking backwards,
Or what is clean is coal.

Sounds trite, I know,
It's all I've got left for,
Maybe tomorrow I can consider,
The continued felling of life, once more.

April Fools!

Has it all been for this?
Distancing from loved ones,
Loneliness for those living by themselves,
And in isolation,

Businesses closing inevitably,
Few could survive this drought,
Existing friction amplified with those,
With whom you must figure custody out,

Jobs lost, dreams crushed, opportunists rejoice,
Debt more common than not,
Forget refugees crammed in germy camps,
Or what our nurses got.

Is it a joke?
One big April fools prank?
No need to wait until just before noon,
This morning is good for the reveal, thanks.

The Lesser Evil

If you have nobody,
How lonely you must be,
Phone calls and greetings from six feet away,
Can't satisfy your needs,

While no one claims to know the duration,
Of this isolation,
They know that solitary confinement,
Is cruel and unusu'l punishment,

At least we all can still buy booze and weed,
That law appears prudent,
Drinking alone beats being with your thoughts,
Unadulterated.

But, then again,
If you're ere dependent,
The hospitals can't deal with your detox,
If they must also handle this Covid.

Just The First One

The next wave is coming,
With the wave of airplanes,
People who have been the least diligent,
Who’ll be first to complain,

Of coughing and fever and lack of smell,
After backyard bonfires,
Forget flattening the curve after that,
Unless we pull the starting point higher,

They say it’s not about not getting it,
But managing the stream,
So the hospitals can manage the sick,
Without choosing who’s seen,

And who will die,
Which, yes, exceeds the flu,
Another wave is the reoccurrence,
Of the next Covid, this is practice, too.

With Best Intentions

Strain is getting higher,
As the numbers do, too,
Covert and fast without ID to scan,
How much can I trust you?

Not that you're washing your hands ev'ry hour,
Or maintaining your space,
But that despite all of your precautions.
Contamination hasn't taken place,

For by the time a treatment's created,
More will have it than not,
For most it's not a matter of if, but when,
You'll get what's to be got,

So don't blame me,
I didn't make this thing,
Intentions pure, actions clean as can be,
My fingers crossed while hands disinfecting.

Make It End

We are all just waiting,
For this madness to end,
The days indoors not knowing what you've touched,
Being distanced from friends,

Being paid less than you're supposed to be,
If being paid at all,
Not having many places to spend cash,
Even if you somehow had a bankroll,

Seeing everyday numbers get higher,
Inching their way to you,
Would I could get it over with, myself,
If you'd not get it, too,

Then there's the cure,
May that search end, also,
Until then, multiply the hospitals,
Plus do not leave me poor when Covid goes.

It Ain't Me

Isn't it exciting,
The party down the street?
All them shouldering up to each other,
Hopefully, you will meet.

Thank goodness the virus is not for you,
Your bubble's strong and firm,
Now wash your hands a couple seconds less,
You've built an understanding with your germs,

That sore throat's obviously something else,
Self-wisdom thrives in you,
'sides, anything you manage to pass on,
Is probably the flu,

Because out there,
Is a show you're streaming,
You're one in eight billion around the world,
Whose pandemic is not what it's seeming.

Don't Ask Me

Does my chest feel heavy?
Was that a special cough?
Does my head feel hotter than usual,
Should I take two weeks off?

How can a bricks and mortar company,
Recover from this blow?
Same rent owing with half the revenue,
For whatever god there is only knows,

How will those living on the precipice,
Survive, given they do?
It's little comfort when the trite reply,
It's not bad as the flu.

Who gives a shit?
Tell that through the plexi,
To the essential worker getting paid,
Minimum wage so you can buy TP.

Where Is The Wealth?

Where is all the money,
Each of us was promised,
Either through hard work or matrimony,
When we were only kids?

It's blowing away faster than it came,
With the economy,
Do you think that after this is done with,
The government's getting you to your feet?

Let Covid be a lesson for us all,
We've not been smart enough,
Not to save money for a rainy day,
But we've devalued us,

Let there be light,
Shed upon trying times,
From the dire prospects of near poverty,
Ope the coffers filled with our sweat and grime.

Society's Roots

We are all under stress,
The world has changed a lot,
Instead of people looking at themselves,
They're scared what others got,

They're looking at you with uncertainty,
Sidle left or deke right,
Be on the lookout for a sneeze or cough,
Any scene could erupt into a fight,

Many want to do something to help out,
But we're not trained that way,
By the time you figure what show to watch,
Frankly, you are just drained.

This is the test,
Of what we're meant to be,
Fighting until we're the last standing or,
Inherently loving humanity.

What Makes Us Great Again

This is a new being,
Though much has stayed the same,
While we treat fellow humans with more care,
Hate's on a diff'rent plane,

It's the fatal flaw that thwarts each ideal,
Free markets ain't evil,
Neither is the notion of anarchy,
They'd be the same run with equal good will,

We would each of us be taken care of,
For we'd care back in turn,
Ambition turned to community health-
Why stare so taciturn?

Right, say no more,
That's not what makes us great,
Everything humans have yet accomplished,
Is thanks to a greed that appears innate

Helping Out

You want to do something,
But don't know where to start,
Looking after yourself is hard enough,
The horse that pulls the cart,

How much time do you have to sacrifice?
How much others for you?
Giving it up seems against the purpose,
Community was one day meant to do,

Pool resources to make life easier,
Still, people have to toil,
Would they could all just do what they do best,
But nature always foils,

With assortment,
Like a box of choc'lates,
Now Forrest is in self-isolation,
And our resources are basically lost.

Our Window

Everyone is dying,
To do what they do best,
As the economy takes away jobs,
While Covid does the rest,

People are running down the street for health,
Our dreams are remembered,
Monopoly is just a game again,
While mortgage payments are being deferred,

The Green New Deal is now within our grasp,
If money can be quashed,
While we all expend the same energy,
That the Earth may be washed,

By our own hands,
Of course, sane minds must rule,
With a shock doctrine for the good of all,
Not colonization and fossil fuel.

The Times

The air's getting cleaner,
Saving potential souls,
Instead of boats, swans and dolphins swim in,
Rio de l'Arsenal,

It's like the earth is saying, "there, you see,
"That wasn't so painful,"
But then the economy answers back,
"Except, I'm taking food from people's bowls,

"No one that wasn't rich in the first place,
"Will receive true relief,
"They will all starve, until they're back to work,
"And I'm back on my feet."

Double distress,
Not to mention Covid,
We catch a glimpse of what humans could be,
Just to see more tragically, what we did.

To Get 'Er Done

If you do a little,
Today and tomorrow,
Then you do a little more the next day,
Then continue to go,

Don't stop until you are inside your grave,
Or your mausoleum,
Whatever it is you have accomplished,
Will be more than most the population.

It need not interfere with other things,
Maybe moments of angst,
Those hours of consuming other's products,
For which you get no thanks,

It helps no one,
Except, perhaps, your mind,
Digesting what has already been made,
To see what is left in your heart to find.

Woke

Have you woken up, yet,
Into your life's next dream,
Infused with lessons you learned in the last,
Not knowing what they mean,

As unsure of the realness of what's seen,
Or of what is to come,
The same person, yes, but maybe this time,
With just a little less self-delusion,

With a little more faith in who you are,
(Who says you can't live twice?)
Believing you're never too old to try,
What you once thought was nice?

Asleep again,
With fluttering eyelids?
E'en if this is all just an illusion,
It's the only life that you have to live.

You Are Special

It is not that times change,
Or that you, yourself, does,
No one's had life-changing epiphanies,
Or grand revolutions,

It's all a ripple in a vast ocean,
A crinkle in a page,
A great boulder pushed up a mountain top,
Only to roll down, then pushed up again,

Or perhaps your pattern's not so acute,
To repeat more than once,
A bio infused with a randomness,
That every human hunts,

Because we thirst,
For something more than us,
As if each one of us is so unique,
We break the mold of this vast universe.

Wordmark

To find the perfect word,
For what you want to do,
That elicits the same from other folk,
Feelings it does for you,

It is not so much the definition,
As the way that it feels,
Nestled inside your brain without thinking,
While maintaining a comforting appeal,

Taking on an existence of its own,
Oh where art thou, my sense?!
A thought for now until forever more,
To get you off that fence,

Onto my side,
Just for the sounds of it,
Unless it just never unveils itself,
The perfect size, and yet it never fits.

Immersion

The tapping of fingers,
Before tapping the keys,
Sounds, once foreign to all of humankind,
Now a ubiquity,

Screens upon screens, periphery and front,
Neck pains and joint damage,
Connections with people like ne'er before,
Demonstrated by attaining a badge,

No longer can one feign being away,
Everyone's always home,
Bricks and mortar are hardly considered,
When staring at one's phone.

Where we've arrived,
Cannot be understood,
Until we can look back decades from now,
For now we'd not lift our eyes if we could.

Happy New Decade!

You've had this thought before,
As if you're someone new,
Is there limit to reinvention,
That don't allow you to?

As if you will always be who you are,
No matter age or state,
There is not one person in history,
Whose life's actions this could repudiate,

But as David Hume has reminded us,
God, Dave, it's been so long,
Just 'cause the sun's risen since you were born,
It not rising's not wrong,

It's what it is,
So go and prove them wrong,
Be everything you've ever wanted to,
Carrying any naysayers along.

The Real Goal

It's only here I'm safe,
Through no lack of trying,
Is it that nothing will be left for me,
After all that lying,

Down on my bed of comfort and privilege?
It takes all kinds, you know,
Surely, there should have been a place somewhere,
For someone with my appetite to go.

Some say the opportunities were there,
That they are still there, yet,
Yet, try to tell that to my confidence,
You'll be laughed off, I bet,

Until right now,
All bets officially closed,
There are still tacks I've yet to navigate,
Like trying only to follow my nose.

Now What?

Want to know the future?
It’s really not that hard,
Just find someone you want to emulate,
Then play all of their cards,

Is not our understanding of the world,
Based on repetition?
We all agree that actions have effects,
So that we can justify conclusions,

The foundations of our society,
Would collapse under foot,
Which is maybe why you are failing now,
Feeling like you’re hard put,

Because you are,
Life’s never been that fair,
Or rather, you’ve never figured it out,
So now do you have the courage to dare?

Not Yet

Perhaps your time is done,
There’s nowhere left to go,
The years closed more doors than you knew were there,
Or what they were e’en for,

Maybe the years left are all maintenance,
Of what you’ve built so far,
Trying to keep the roof over your head,
Not get up and getting into your car,

Driving to where you always wanted to,
But never thought you could,
For life’s not presented as what you can,
But rather what you should.

So, here you are,
It’s not over, you know,
Plenty of folks live right up to their death,
Never giving up where they need to go.

The Stress of Not Knowing

If you could see the end,
With no pow'r to change it,
The choices you make only affecting,
The road you take to it,

Imagine the advantage you would have,
Over time's tyranny,
No more fear of what your actions might do,
To the outcome of your mortality,

Each moment could have in mind a true goal,
For truth is hard to find,
Its value's greater than all the world's gold,
Or unlimited time,

But then again,
Do you really need truth,
When living as if you know what it is,
Is not diff'rent in effect to the sooth?

Sitting

There seemed so much to do,
Then I sat down to it,
Sometimes when you stop to take a breather,
You just don't give a shit,

The mind wants to focus on where you are,
As if finding yourself,
The world you've been in somehow changes you,
So that what's important is something else,

Your job, your debts, and those who attack you,
A bubble you live in,
Opaque, blocking out light, you've no body,
Most you know will give in,

It's called living,
As opposed to being,
Then you look through the bubble from outside,
To realize it's not you, you're seeing.

Under Tombs

It's all but disappeared,
In the darkness beyond,
Too frightened or perhaps too logical,
To leave your position,

The safety of the wall your hand rests on,
Means you cannot take risks,
The death of which may delay your own death,
Yet, fills your life with repetitiveness,

But once you abandon that which you know,
For of which don't know much,
All of the hands in the world will not help,
For there's nothing to touch,

That they will know,
You'll have to feel around,
Until what there is becomes a new wall,
Or you surrender dead upon the ground.

Next

When you've an idea,
You want to bring to life,
You take a step in the right direction,
Towards the  nat'ral light,

But what happens if you come up against,
Something that's in your way,
Not completely blocking your view of it,
Though, demanding  to pass you have to pay?

Do you decide that it is not worth it,
Move on to something else,
That the real joy of creativity,
Is commune with the self?

That is a choice,
Made every minute,
If it wasn't, wouldn't the world be filled,
With the thoughts of everyone in it?

Logic

What you do in your life,
Has many dependents,
Parents, history, and inclination,
And, of course, dependents,

You can spend your time reviewing these things,
In fact, I’d say you must,
Each moment you aren’t instead living,
To avoid a general self disgust,

Which tends to happen when you don’t look in,
Opting to look around,
Comparing, blaming, manipulating,
Imagining you’re bound,

To what you are,
Which, indeed, you must be,
As long as you’re thinking in the moment,
Not a future reckoned by history.

Stand Up

This particular task,
Many would face with fear,
If they had any modicum of shame,
Or even held it dear,

Either would undermine genuineness,
Nothing great was e'er done,
Without a naive, childlike playfulness
Executed with reckless abandon,

That is not to say don't do your homework,
You need a foundation,
Made from material others ere know,
Else there's no relation,

Which is the key,
Unless you do not care,
If you are producing the best you can,
While others can only wonder and stare.

On This Day

Upon self-reflection,
Of my life lived thus far,
The different stages I can recognize,
In retrospect, the bars,

The surprising reactions from others,
Both kind and indifferent,
Hostility from self-preservation,
Or ingratiating opportunists,

Expectations not in line with my fate,
Decisions made the same,
Realizing that when it's all said and done,
It is all how I came,

To be who I'm,
There is no turning back,
But, were I born me, on this very day,
I would feel there is nothing that I lack.

Still

Oh, the way things do change,
And, yet, they stay the same,
It’s amazing we can give anything,
A unifying name,

Like two things that appear like each other,
Should be treated as one,
As if a thing doesn’t change over time,
No matter how strong its constitution,

But maybe the thing is we change with it,
In direct proportion,
Like slowly sneaking all around a tree,
Ne’er catching your victim,

Then there’s the tree,
Growing too slow to see,
It’s a testament your type of change,
That I have faith in our vitality,

Priceless

Do you recall that ad,
Advertising something,
In which they name a list of random things,
Including quantity,

Like, ‘four years of dental school in L.A.,
‘One secret to confess,
‘A conference of five thousand colleagues,
‘Ten thousand hands clapping for you, priceless’

Now that I think of it, I’m not quite right,
The numbers all are costs,
You pay with cash in exchange for lifestyle,
But then, it’s not a loss,

I remember,
It was a credit card,
Like debt is naught to who you really are,
Should believing that really be that hard?

No Control

If you feel impeded,
You must ask yourself ‘why’,
Are circumstances out of your control,
As you watch then go by?

Has what was you become an observer,
On a lazy river,
Open to the weather and the currents,
A victim who may swelter or shiver,

Waiting to complain to the attendant,
About the lousy ride,
When you could have stepped out of the air tube,
Really, at any time,

You don’t want that!
Responsibility?!
Much better your choices are made for you,
Than take control of your own destiny.

Stand Up

You’ll not be popular,
Or rather, yes you will,
Telling people how your life really is,
Depending on your trill,

Does it denote a hint of jealousy,
Or vulnerability,
Does truth underlie the tales that you tell,
Or are they shrouded in uncertainty?

Do you put them together  as you should,
Without thought, but feeling,
No consideration for who you hurt,
Or who is listening?

For that’s the key,
To uncovering truth,
To understand how we fit in this world,
To pass on our wisdom onto our youth.

Trauma

There is no beginning,
When it comes to trauma,
It runs like veins through the generations,
To daughter from mamma,

To nation from the nation before that,
Before the apple's bit,
It unlocks our minds to what's really there,
After consciousness has got hold of it,

Each time it visits our lived existence,
It is like a fresh bruise,
The blood rises up, just under our flesh,
Reminding us there's someone to accuse,

Of all our hurts,
From time immemoryal,
So we lash out because of what's inside,
Ensuring that the mark will never heal.

The Way

What was it that you did,
To make you who you are?
Or is your story one of resistance,
Despite the guiding star,

Residing in each of us since our birth,
Lighting up the true path,
The one filled with magical sights and sounds,
Rather than with disappointment and wrath?

Or e’en a mixture of the two extremes,
Though some say that’s the best,
No person deserves the best life can give,
If it’s denied the rest.

But wait, is it?
P’haps there’s a path for all,
Denied by most because their eyes are closed,
For they’ve been told they shouldn’t have the gall.

It's Not Over

Those things you used to do,
In the throes of your youth,
Directed not by your mind, but by blood,
Before you even knew,

Continue on in the lives of others,
Will continue past them,
While you stand in front of the toilet bowl,
Wondering when the next thing will begin,

For life does not end with a certain year,
Unless you make it so,
You could stop it at your first obstacle,
Before you even know,

What it's about,
Which is all up to you,
There's never been one single ideal life,
You could discern from an outsider's view.

Severence

If you think it's too late,
Well, then it surely is,
There is nothing like believe to define,
Your life's true edifice,

Each minute is another building block,
What will you make it of?
The bitterness from goal's disappointments,
Due to what became unrequited love,

Or acceptance of your reality,
Beyond what you create,
The material that makes new structures,
That redefine your fate,

Each one's a choice,
Though, only one is real,
Like any law writ to protect our rights,
They only work with the right to appeal.

Self-Awareness

You’ve checked in with yourself,
A thousand times before,
It has taken you a long time this time,
You couldn’t think what for,

But then you’re reminded of who you are,
Next to what you’ve become,
You realize no matter how hard you tried,
Your essence informed ev’ry decision,

For despite what many may have told you,
The goal’s not to improve,
As if you can change who you really are,
Without losing you, too,

Who’re you to know,
What you should rather be?
Know thyself then let thyself carry on.
There is no better judge of thyself than thee.

Street Watching

Did you know you could die,
That you may have by now,
That one day you will certainly be dead,
The only question's how,

That everyone that you will ever meet,
Will be dead one day, too,
That most of the people that will e'er be,
Will not be known by or even of you,

That everyday is like a bonus day,
To do with as you please,
Working hard for generations coming,
Or ambling by with ease?

No matter what,
There is one thing you get,
Moments of awareness that you're unique,
As are the lives of those you haven't met.

Understanding

It gets no easier,
This life's repetition,
You arch forward just a little wiser,
Then loop right back again,

Yes, each cycle means you have made progress,
But, pray, tow'rds what, my friend?
Is there time in this short life to finish,
Even should you reach one hundred and ten?

Or does each generation carry on,
From where we have left off,
Destined to loop right back again, itself,
Making the same errs oft?

Tow'rds what, my friend?
Will we make it that far?
So many questions, asked so many times,
Just standing on one of the cycle's arch.

Looking Back

Let us begin over,
Each day is a new start,
Imagine you could do what you wanted,
Math, science, dance or art,

Replay anything in your history,
With knowledge you have now,
Though chances are you wouldn’t do diff’rent,
First impressions are made with a kapow,

It may alter some with experience,
You should hope that it does,
There’s always a chance in this fucked up world,
For obliviousness,

Or too much truth,
Moderation for all,
To provide the right flexibility,
So that the chips, where they may, can still fall.

Return

Oops, I did it again,
Hope it happens again,
Lest there is such a thing as jinxing it,
I will keep it hidden,

For there are things that die from being known,
Like one’s humility,
Certain molecules we have not found, yet,
The cosmic force that first brought you to me,

So, as I do cruise along life’s highway,
The wind against my face,
I’ll count my blessings with a chosen few,
With my best poker face,

But I’m ready,
Like I was twenty-two,
A time traveller to where there’s no time,
To ask why the universe blesses you.

It’s Yours

Remember that person,
That you were way back when,
You thought the world could offer anything,
Not in your possession?

You’d just put it out to the universe,
Then pow! And there it was,
No scepticism that there is no force,
That would take care of you simply because,

Because we are part of reality,
Like doubt is part of us,
When things don’t make sense when we look for it,
In arrogant disgust.

But that’s just us,
Once we learn to forget,
That life’s here for us and we’re here for life,
Nothing is not already ours to get.