Monday, March 30, 2020

day ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY SEVEN


GOING VIRAL

In this time of virus the news and
The places I search for my muse
Vie for attention

Attention is a ragged thing
Torn by fear and disgust
For the time

I hear the sparring words of our sitting President
Pushing platitudes and racism
Pointing our attitudes toward despair

I cannot bear to
Leave my attention there
I turn to prayer

Read the Daily Office
Seeking breaths of fresh air
In a language long dead

That yet helps me to recall the anguish
Of recent plagues and plagues
Of centuries past

It is not the virus that haunts my thoughts
But the decay of democracy and decency
That makes me long to be free of America

To escape the pain I go
For a walk in the rain
Through the wetlands

By the Napa RIver
I maintain social distance from my neighbors
Converse with birds and watch

As the fowl glide indifferently by

--Charles Kruger

No comments: