Going Viral: The Year Of The Snake (or Pangolin)

By Paul Annon

Sun, 19 Apr 2020
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2 comments
 

Nobody saw it coming
(Except for science fiction writers, Hollywood, the World Health Organisation, and of course Nostradamus).
Spawned once more in Eastern climes,
Eschewing the Silk Road and trade seas for the airways,
This gray plague on all our houses burst upon the world
In a tidal wave of contagion and recrimination,
A viral apocalypse of global proportions
Paused to reset the world order
Since the Fourth Horseman rode out.

Now the lurgy has landed
And after month on month of infection and isolation,
We really are all in it together.
In fact, holding hands remotely
And cheering on an army of angels,
We have never been more together apart.

And when the final reckoning comes
And the countless deaths can at last be tallied,
When in the fullness of time the grieving begins to subside,
And there can at last be an accounting,
What lessons, if any, will our glorious leaders learn
From this harrowing (and heartening) chapter of human history?...

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Comments

Submitted by Penny4athought on

So true, and I just read how the pangolin is a threatened species and heavily poached/ captured and sent abroad - to everywhere - to be used for unproven medicinal purposes. How cruel mans behavior and now we learn it is the connection from bat to us for the corona virus. Our stupidity as humans knows no bounds when it comes to our arrogant disrespect for nature.

I Loved your poem, it certainly hits its mark today.

Penny4athought

Submitted by Kurt Rellians on

I like your poem very much for the way it describes the onset of this pandemic, and how it may change our world order. I think you make a very good point about how it has actually been predicted in so many ways.