no no, it's just my allergies in poetry

when this passes
if this passes
I will feel naked
without a mask on

when this passes
if this passes
I will hesitate before
I embrace in public and
I apologize in advance

when this passes
if this passes
which life will feel unreal
the plague-times or the after?
when there is an after
if there is an after

when this passes
if this passes
how long will we learn
our lesson for this time?
one hundred years like before?
one single generation’s memory?
Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes?

when this passes
if this passes
will those who made it worse
face real consequences for it
or will they just bugger off to
yacht-clubs and Moscow brothels
as they always have before?

when this passes
I no longer want to flinch

if this passes
I do not want to say withdrawn

when this passes
I don’t want life like it was before

if this passes
I want to come out of this
even better than I was then

when this passes
if this passes
when
if
when

Last updated August 13, 2020