1 April 2020

By Philip Kuepper

The sky, today, is the color of phlegm.
Awareness of the coronavirus colors my mind.
The world is in lock down.
Five thousand have died.
The church I attend
is closed for the duration;
the library, where I work,
closed to the public.
Here, in the building where I live,
my departures and arrivals
are monitored at reception.
Necessary safety makes me feel a felon
on the loose.
My shackles rise.
Yet they bloom with understanding.
Contagion is deadly.
Deadly means fatal.
Fatal means no more life.

(11 March 2020)