45 Poems of Protest - "Pandemic" by Kirk Ramdath (Eleventh Transmission)

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Pandemic

The whole world grinds to a halt
COVID-19 blooms sickness and death
Making spring 2020 not so much about renewal
As about staying safe

In a fraction of a second
(in bureaucratic time)
Governments declare emergencies
Magic out of air, incredible sums
Halt economies on dimes
To prevent contagion
Revealing to all
How fixable the system is
At the same time, how broken

Many first nations communities
Still do not have clean running water
How bald is the hypocrisy of truth and reconciliation
Against a virus that demands continuous hand-washing

Capitalism is all glory and no mercy
When the chips are down,
It goes crying like a baby for socialism
The profit motive is abandoned
As the superfluous thing it is

Let it stay abandoned

Biography
Kirk Ramdath is the publisher and editor of Wax Poetry and Art,
Eleventh Transmission, and other publications. He has been a poet
and publisher since 2005, originally in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His
first book is Love in a Handful of Dust.

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Previously published in Eleventh Transmission:
"S urrender " by Ma Jian with translation by Julie O'Yang.