covid 19

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Walking the Dog by Edwin G Lucas

the sounds of new home construction 
hammering nails into dystopian rhythms 
waveforms like ring droplets on still water 
spreading through our quiet neighborhood like a virus 

coming off one sidewalk onto another waiting for my turn 
to slip into the next car length space of pedestrians 
as we all walk keeping our social distance 
overly conscious of our spatial relation to each other 
terrified of accidental exposure 

the real walking dead now walking dogs 
told to stay home as the virus looms stalking the people we love 
waiting for them to slip up and touch their own faces 
everyone forgetting to exhale as the anxiety overwhelms 
whats left of our delicate social fabric 

this isolation is advanced darkness 
disconnecting us further from one another 
finishing the job started by social media 
so many little tribes divided and conquered 
the collective unconscious sick with amnesia 
we are hypnotized by corporate propaganda 
dropped like a reverse atom bomb 
imploding our fears and collapsing them like stars
creating blackholes in the war torn flag that is the american dream 

our failed system we force on others all over the world 
lies traumatized like a rape victim naked and afraid 
made to feel guilty because our skirt was too short 
blaming us for not being successful enough to purchase a test 
like celebrities for $3400 quarantined in castles equalized in their rose baths 

tired of pulling ourselves up like some facebook challenge 
we should all use our bootstraps 
to choke the throats of corporations and their politicians 
preying on us like alter boys they pay no taxes like churches 

from which these safety nets could be woven 
because they have stocks to buy back instead of jobs to create 
they suck blood from our necks lowering our credit scores 
demanding we sacrifice the elders for the good of the stock market 
and our illusionary economy built on everyone’s debt

Dan Fijolek is a writer and a poet.