Tuesday, February 23, 2021

A Room of My Own: The Toll

One Hundred Eighty-Second Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary
written in response to America's half a million Covid deaths 

"We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. There's nothing ordinary about them." With a moment's pause for reflection, the President continues, "The people we lost were extraordinary. They span generations. Born in America, emigrated to America."

the flags
flying at half-mast
for five days
the White House 
lit by candles

Television light flickers on a wrinkled face. "So many of these extraordinary Americans took their final breath alone." His voice is scarcely above a whisper. 

the number
on the TV screen
in bold red
he stares into the future
from his nursing home window

1 comment:

  1. BBC News, Feb. 23: "Biden calls 500,000 death toll a heartbreaking milestone," accessed at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56159756

    As a nation, we can't accept such a cruel fate. We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow.

    -- Joe Biden, Feb. 22

    ReplyDelete