“HIV, Ebola, and Zika are ugly, nasty viruses. David Goodsell makes them look beautiful, even alluring.” A science news
It took a virus
To isolate people
From each other.
It took a virus
To isolate people
From their leaders
Forgetting they are public servants
Not thugs of fiefdom.
They are always out of touch
Quick to curse and order
And always deserted
By common sense.
It took a virus
To see a nation in prayer
Fearful for their loved ones
And fervently imploring
For dear departed.
It took a virus
To make us all realize
That luxury goods
And signature clothes
No longer make sense
At this time
Of the endless quarantine period.
It took a virus
To humble ourselves
Before someone
Higher than our common biases.
We are closer to living
In the periphery of substance
Having learned
To shy away
From the peripheral.
It took a virus
To bring us back
To our humanity
Even as in another planet
The wicked multiply
As they feast
On the carcasses
Of the dead
And the hungry.
I wash my hands regularly
To stay away from the virus.
Beyond this
I know
It took a virus
To make us appreciate
What we have always ignored —
The glory of sunrise.
The melancholy of sunset
And most of all
To settle for sufferance
Under constant battering
From rising storms
And swirling floodwaters.
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