I lived through it, covid,
this dreaded disease,
the panic, as it spread worldwide,
(It will never reach here!), and the lies–
(it will be gone soon!), the denial,
and the gloom.
We all watched, as numbers climbed,
I printed them out, stuck them in a book,
for my grandkids, later.
We all watched in horror as loved ones died,
and none of us knew who would survive,
our family, our neighbor.
Nursing homes closed to visitors,
A friend of ours brought her violin
And played to her mother,
from a window,
They wouldn’t let her in.
Schools closed, we sent kids home,
leaving them isolated, and alone,
staring at friends online.
Later, we would see the scars,
the lack of learning,
the paranoia,
the fears of being together again,
in person, face to face,
The loneliness they could not erase…
And then came the vaccine.
People no longer died alone,
No one has to stay at home,
Cities came alive again,
Masking went away.
But covid doesn’t play.
It is very much alive today,
shifting, changing, rearranging,
Shedding parts, growing others,
Continuing to make us sick.
but it can only go so far…
And now, in early 2024,
I find myself having to isolate,
As COVID finally found me.
I call my doctor, and because of age,
Get antivirals for the next 5 days,
Prepare to wait for it to pass,
Spend a few days at home.
On day 2, I test positive,
Wait the required number of days,
On Day 5, a very slight T line,
Day 7, one we could hardly see –
And then the cold returned.
Wake up with a stuffy nose,
Headache, taking Tylenol,
Day 8 strongly positive,
We are now on Round 2.
I go online to GOOGLE IT,
and find to my surprise,
Something I didn’t know before,
called COVID RE-BOUND exists.
This thing never dies.
It finds another way to make itself come alive.
It’s not like vaccine for small pox
that made it go away,
or the measles, or chicken pox,
This thing returns in another way.
10 days or more to stay at home,
10 days of not going to a store,
Of not being able to see a friend,
10 days of ordering groceries in,
Tonight, as I spoke to my children of this,
a message comes from a daughter,
She had covid a couple years ago,
She just tested positive.
Covid doesn’t play. It doesn’t go away.
We have found some ways to reduce the deaths,
Science has figured it out a bit,
But we have to continue to fight it off,
Get the shots, Keep it at bay,
Covid wants to mess with us,
It will come again, on another day.
cfblack Day 11, 2-10-2024
