The Forever Virus (HA 80 Chanso)

House Arrest

Of course I don’t want anybody scared.
My rhymes are never meant to channel grief.
But if you have an urge to feel prepared,
then watch for facts instead of hot belief.

It may be vain to vest in a vaccine
the means to stop this virus in its tracks.
Attacks on respiration tend to mean
there won’t be shot protection: look at facts.

Somebody put a “warp” in front of “speed,”
and overlooked the meaning of the word,
for even if each citizen agreed
in ways, to rush the testing is absurd.

They told us statins didn’t carry risk!
They demonized cholesterol and salt.
Avoiding fat, our food got sugar-kissed,
and though our nation’s sick, we’ve yet to halt.

Perhaps the virus wins this dire race.
Our best protection’s good immune response.
It cannot hurt to give each other space,
but let’s give natural health a renaissance.

We’re not lost yet. The wisest will resort
to foods and use that give our cells support.

Posted in Civics, Coronaverse, Food, Health, Philosophy, Poetry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Disrespect (HA 79 Huitain)

House Arrest

I understand your feelings have been hurt,
but I don’t think there’s anyone to blame.
I see you tremble and I hear you blurt
of disrespect. I think another name
pertains, for carelessness is not the same –
in “disrespect” there has to be intent
to wound. But maybe “disrespect” became
a different word than what my parents meant.

Posted in Coronaverse, Family, Language, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Drafts on Scraps (HA 78 Ottava Rima)

House Arrest

Composing daily now lets me realize
I tend to set my pen to paper waste.
I’m using pages used to list supplies
I need, and positing iambs in haste.
It’s like I don’t expect much from my tries
until I see the fruit and have a taste
of draft, until I’ve edited enough,
and then I grant good paper to my stuff.

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When the Shit Hit the Fan (HA 77 Spenserian Stanza)

House Arrest

A year ago I bought a ceiling fan
as part of the remodel. Ever since
I’ve loved it, but five days ago a man
who’s dear to me exploded. I’ve had hints
he’s overstressed, but that was evidence
of someone reeling far out of control.
The shit will need more washing than a rinse.
The cry for help is obvious and whole:
I have to clean my walls; he needs to cleanse his soul.

Fan

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Dental Debacle? (HA 76)

House Arrest

Near 14 years ago, my dentist said
“You need a root canal,” and touched the spot:
“though nothing hurts, before this tooth is dead,
before the pain explodes. I kid you not.”
By then I understood my gum disease
(though I don’t own a perio diploma).
I saw my guy – he peers and disagrees,
and says “That’s actually a cementoma.”

I didn’t need that endodontic cure.
Since then I’ve undergone much gum repair,
extractions, implants, brushes, rinses, pills.
Now recent swelling makes my dentist sure
I need a root canal. Is this a flare
of gum disease? They have to run their drills.

Posted in Coronaverse, Health, Poetry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Overloads (HA 75 Limerick)

House Arrest

The virus invaded our city.
The federal fuckup’s not pretty.
Germ load’s now our mess,
Aggravated by stress,
And everyone’s outlook is shitty.

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A Scurry of Squirrels (HA 74)

House Arrest

A month ago, the music of the birds
was serenade from dawn to nearly noon.
Today to put the garden sound in words,
I hear the insect buzz and squirrel zoom.
The bees are drinking salvia and flies
are bumping window glass. The whine
of a mosquito makes me slap my eyes
and box my ears. The most disruptive sign
of spring is squirrels in the eucalypt.
A half a dozen spiral up the trunk
and down again, dislodging branches tipped
with twigs to clatter on the deck. They bunk
above, they piss from high in darting hurry,
and earn their term of venery: a scurry.

Posted in Coronaverse, Critters, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Calibration of Happiness (HA 73)

House Arrest

I worked for years with somebody so drab
and dull, I wondered how her weekends went.
For most the Monday lunches she would blab
about her social life: how excellent
that picnic felt; this party was a blast.
But then we took a business trip. She stood
alone against the walls until it passed,
and raved on our return that all was good.
It blew my mind. I’d seen she had no fun,
but she recalled and called it otherwise.
And ever since, when I hear anyone
enthusing, I don’t feel the old surprise.
I cannot know how purple looks to you,
when you’re confused, or if your joy is true.

Posted in Cognition, Coronaverse, Philosophy, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nextdoor and the Loud Boom (HA 72 Curtal Sonnet)

House Arrest

When I lived here in 1968,
we drove old Volkswagens and ate low-cost.
We roomed with dogs and fleas and smoked a lot.
Some nights we heard explosive noises, late
and loud. We learned the sound of bad exhaust
would never rattle windows. Some forgot
how bullets boom, and think the claps we hear
are weapons aimed and ammunition tossed,
yet I can tell from memory they’re not –
they’re fireworks, but Nextdoor neighbors fear
gunshot.

Posted in Coronaverse, Neighborhood, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Changing Times (HA 71 Magic 9)

House Arrest

Two months ago, I couldn’t find a roll
of toilet paper on a shelf or site.
An order of Feridies took a whole
three weeks at least to make it to my porch.
Supply chain tangles out of my control
induced in me not worry but concern –
attention to the shipment-tracking stole
good moments. Peanuts now come overnight,
and paper’s not a desperate shopping goal.

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