Save It

A poem to people not taking proper precautions for COVID-19, and even complaining about them on the basis of their “rights” and/or ideas. Written 7/11/20, as cases in various places in the US continue to rise.

A cloudy day in a park with burgeoning trees, taken by myself in California.

In this time, I cannot believe
That we should need
To point out to even a few
That surgeons and scientists wear masks too,
That saving a life
Is not a political but personal fight,
That small, slight sacrifice
For such good is right,
That your beliefs
Are weak
Against the human deep.

Save the strife
For another life
At risk,
In a pinch,
Use the urge
To protect, to learn
The enemy here
Is not breathable fabric,
But the things which turn
Us to fear,
Sick.

Save, save it
For their business
For the peoples’ witness,
For history, to distance,
To endure and exist.

I want to outlive this.