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Saturday, April 18, 2020

“A Pandemic Missive” by Sara Aharon

A Pandemic Missive
Let me tell you
Something today:
I am alive but on shaky ground
And I know I’m alive
Because I wake up in the morning
To colorful charts showing me how many people
In my city, in my country
And everywhere else
Are known
To have
Died from something so small
I can’t zap it with spray
Or shush it away
Nor step on it
With my blue suede boots
Not even shoot
Or cut it out of my body like the tumour
That hid in my throat.
They insist I can’t kill it with medications (not yet anyway)
Like the ones that choked the disease
Invading my breast
With way too much ease.
And I know I am still alive because I hear every day,
All day, what not to do, where not to go,
Who not to touch
where not to slouch
Covid-19 in Ontario by Public Health Unit
How close I can stand
How far I can bend
Where to walk
In what direction and style
Down the supermarket aisle
How far apart I can drive
From those who are also still alive
And just like me
Hoping to never really know
The thing they can’t see
Or crush, or shoot with a bow.
I know I am alive because
When I look out the window
On this shimmering spring day
I see a red robin
My neighbors’ fluffy dog Ray
And I know I am still alive
 And I wonder if fighting two cancers
In two years
May have been an exercise,
 A run-through, a practice
When drugs coursing
Through my veins wiped out my white cells
Maybe going to work with a mask, washing my hands
Till my skin peeled
Was my part of a deal
So I could live
So I could tell you
It’s not a drill
That every battle won
Is a thrill.
Don’t be fooled
Each one is
The
Big One
Each
Is worth the effort
As the prize is waking up
On a spring day
To see one more time
The sun in its shimmering glory
The red robin
And a dog called Ray.

Sara Aharon lives in Toronto. She is the proud mother of two adult daughters. These days she makes her living as a virtual psychologist, and since she has more time on her hands, she writes about plagues (and other things).



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1 comment:

  1. That is lovely. A wonderful expression of still living in such times. And a great photo! 

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