A Conversation with COVID

 

 

I needed to speak with COVID

But he bluntly refused,

As I approached him in my mask

He was not amused.

 

He begged me to remove it

I told him I could not,

He referred to the many who did

And I said look at their lot.

 

He spoke of his busy schedule

Regarding people and places,

And said he had no regard for people

Who could not show their faces.

 

He said I was COVID phobic

And there was not much that I knew

But he would get me eventually

And there was nothing I could do.

 

 

I asked if that was the case

Why his concern about my mask,

He turned to walk away

Then suddenly stopped and asked…

 

“Are you afraid of me?”

I found that question strange,

For after all the havoc he has caused

He would have to be deranged.

 

“Who wouldn’t be afraid of you?”

“You’d be amazed,” he replied.

“Crazy party-goers and church people

And many more besides.

 

With such support from these

I will be around for a long time

And even when I am not around

I will still invade your mind...

 

So that life without COVID

Will be a thing of the distant past

But whenever you go out in public

You will still be wearing a mask.”

 

 

He said that with a sneer

Whereupon I brought up the vaccine

But his sneer turned to laughter

And I felt I could scream.

 

It was an eerie kind of laughter

Of the kind associated with a demon

And I got the distinct impression

I was conversing with Satan.

 

Get thee behind me, Satan

Was what I was tempted to say

But I must admit here and now

I was overwhelmed by fear.

Fortunately, I kept on my mask,

And my hands were sanitized

And I had kept my physical distance

Because COVID I despise.

 

By the way, COVID was a friend

That wanted me to hug

But I stoutly resisted the temptation

Whereupon COVID just shrugged.

 

When meeting your family

That are not of your household

Refrain from hugging and kissing-

COVID is both horrid and bold.

 

 My Christian brothers and sisters

Avoid laying on of hands

For COVID slays Christians as well

As part of his plan.

 

You may say I have no faith

But I beg you please open your eyes,

The friend you converse with

May be COVID in disguise.

Converse at a six feet distance

With those not of your household

Or you may become a COVID statistic

In six feet of filled in mold.

 

Stewart Russell © February 24, 2021

My New Year Wish

 

 

My New Year wish-

Is that COVID would leave

And that I could breathe

How I used to breathe.

 

Without a mask

Covering up my face,

How I wish COVID would leave

Without a trace!

 

That things would be

Like they were before

And this COVID-19

Would trouble me no more.

 

I would make a promise

Not ever to complain

If only COVID would be gone

Never to come again.

 

 

There is nothing normal

About this new norm,

Give me the old norm…

This one I scorn.

 

You get out of the car

But must quickly return,

You have forgotten the mask

How that really burns!

 

You enter at a door

And are stopped in your tracks,

Hand sanitizer and temperature gun

Or you must turn back.

 

And as you do your business

Don’t get up too close,

No hugging and no kissing;

An elbow-knock at the most.

 

You get back home

And parcels must be sanitized,

Everybody loves Raymond

But COVID I despise.

 

 

All gatherings reduced

To ten persons or less

And a cough or sneeze in public

Could mean a COVID test.

 

A swab up your nose-

Which is extremely uncomfortable

But this is part and parcel

Of this COVID trouble.

 

How I seriously wish

That COVID-19 would suddenly go!

For sure, this is the sentiment

Of both the high and low.

 

COVID does not differentiate

Between these two,

Neither does it distinguish

Between me and you.

 

I wish we could synergize

And just wish COVID away

But alas! I have a strong feeling

It will not leave today.

 

My wish for 2021

Is that COVID would leave me alone

And choose some other planet

To go there and roam.

 

 

Let's adhere to the protocols

And force COVID to dry up

And remember, prayer is a better option

Than just wishing for good luck.

 

Stewart Russell © January 6, 2021