Saturday, May 14, 2022

Final Tally

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Final Tally

 

It’s not over but the death toll winds down

Soon we will not count the covid dead

Soon the dead will just be dead

And the final tally will be recorded

 

Over a million Americans

North of the Mexican border

More than half over the age of sixty-five

Disproportionate among the poor

Among the black and Latino

Among the native population

 

The tally is tragically low

Multiply by two or three or more

The unrecorded dead will outnumber

The recorded dead by a large margin

 

Yet do not fret for they were old

Do not long mourn for their

Remaining years were short

Do not look back with regret

For they were burdens on their families

Burdens on their friends and loved ones

Burdens on all society

 

We cannot say so now

We cannot say so tomorrow

But the day will come

When we dismiss our sorrow

With the knowledge that the dead

Were mostly old and feeble

They were of less value

That those who survived

In the final tally it is

Survival of the fittest

 

No comments:

Post a Comment