In the pattern of Richard The Third
SAN DIEGO
Now is the springtime of our confinement
Made mournfully frightful by the toll in New York.
A surfeit of time spent alone in our homes
Sheltering in place and bending the curve.
Now our days are filled with monotonous routine.
Our social selves stifled by quarantine.
Shopping in pursuit of tuchus tissue.
Washing hands with vigor to disinfect.
Grim-visaged doctors worried about shortages.
Forced in lieu of federal leadership
To rely on governors for protective equipment.
Rather than heed the advice of doctors,
The Lying King privileges profits over health.
But will we, discredit his scapegoating,
Or stay silent until it is safe outside?
Has a country that erected a wall to keep aliens out,
Because they might bring crime and disease
Learned that viruses can cross borders?
Cheated of contact by covid19,
Misinformed, endangered, before our time.
Short of breath without the aid of ventilators,
Covering faces with masks unfashionable.
When walking dogs on abandoned streets.
Will we, in this trying time of pandemic
Merely delight in passing away the time,
And conversing with friends on Zoom,
And streaming films and podcasts for amusement.
Or since we are bereft of presidential foresight
Can we do more than entertain ourselves in these broken days.
If are determined to improve and survive
Hating the idle patterns of these days.
Avoiding briefings blatantly misleading
Whose rosy prophecies, libels and claims
Divide us into opposing camps
Instead of uniting us in a common fight.
And since the King is not true and just.
But innately petty, false, and egotistical.
We are buoyed by his predecessor’s endorsement
And a rival’s credible concession.
Compelled to hasten the end of epidemic enabling.
Campaigning and voting to save the nation’s soul.
Biden comes!
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Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com. San Diego Jewish World points out to new readers that this column is satire, and nothing herein should be taken literally.