a poem in my pocket

Everyone has opinions about how to handle the virus & variants.  I don’t want to add to fear but simply raise some questions…and experiment with pantoum form.

health police grab power again
new variant of covid is here
now all of you must listen!
media frenzy feeds the fear

virulent variant of covid is here
we hide faces behind our masks
media frenzy feeds the fear
authority is what they grasp

hiding faces behind our masks
we bare arms for vaccination
will the authority they grasp
control scared population?

twist bare arms for vaccination
each breath given permission
is goal control of population,
keep everyone in submission?

to breathe we ask permission
if only covid would listen!
can’t keep it in submission
as variant grabs power again.

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The pantoum is a poetry form from Malaysia and repeats lines like an incantation going forward and back again. It is written as quatrains with ABAB rhyme scheme. The stanza lines follow a pattern: 1-2-3-4, 2-5-4-6, 5-7-6-8, 7-3-8-1. I changed repeated lines a bit.