a poem in my pocket

spirits sag sluggish

our attitudes apathetic

people lie dying but we

are numbed by numbers

so we adjust our masks

try to control catastrophe

normalize the abnormal

turn off doom of news

cannot shut out reality

of one’s own mortality

seems life is too short to

realize all our dreams

of apocalyptic nightmare

social events cancel

celebrations zoom in

at least we can distract

ourselves with technology:

mind games of (anti)social

media, victims of porn

big bureaucracy grows

as the economy slows

churches shut down

yet abortion services

considered essential

we truly are sick