This, as with so many disasters, never had to reach this point.
Greed, hatred, fear drove us here, inside, away from one another.
Persuasion, logic and rational discussion got nowhere
as consuming and posting pictures of us consuming
continued to rule the day.

Now, locked up, we continue the same behavior,
desperate for likes,
for the smallest doses of dopamine we can get,
pleading, yelling, crying out for attention.

We hoard toilet paper,
leaving the vulnerable without a basic resource,
we hoard cleaning supplies,
assuring others can’t protect themselves,
we hoard masks that do nothing for the healthy,
guaranteeing those on the front lines can’t protect themselves
while trying to care for our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, lovers.

And even in the midst of a pandemic we won’t wash our fucking hands.

We pretend it’s not real, a plot, a lie,
to bring down a bumbling emperor without clothes, who,
the public has proven time and time again,
couldn’t care less that he’s naked
and perhaps that’s why he got in power in the first place.

We are desperate for distraction,
for entertainment,
for anything to think about other than our own thoughts.
We are pathetic consuming machines
and is it any wonder our heedless hedonism brought us to this point.

Please, please, let us learn something from this,
let us care for one another,
let us do all the basics we were taught
by Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers,
for if we were kinder,
if we loved more,
if we shared more,
we never would have got to this point.
May we never get here again.

– 3/21/2020