Very High Risk
This map
This stolen land
now simmering with virus
ICUs with zero capacity
exhausted medical workers
anxious children and parents
stressed beyond capacity
nervous systems shot
so many with no choice
but to work
for an unlivable wage
If we had any question
about what kind of culture
this is, the answer is dark purple
a very high risk culture
a culture that puts self above other
and immediacy above the future
Yesterday, my teenage son
said if everyone wore an N95 mask
for four weeks, we could snuff out this scourge
In that case, we'd snuff out
the scourge, too, of selfishness and speed
that currently costs 3,000 American lives
per day
Just now, my wife remarked
imagine an event, a catastrophe or attack
where that many people died in a day
We would be having vigils, mourning,
asking how did this happen
We've made it clear whose lives
are deemed dispensable and disposable
indigenous people
Black and brown bodies
the elderly, the disabled
not a day passes now that I don't see
someone I know has lost someone they loved
to Covid
Friends who are still recovering weeks, months later
And yet
folks continue to make plans
eat out
get haircuts
go to the gym
travel
and it's difficult to discuss
now there is a skein of judgment
and all of the gradations
those who just don't give a shit
those who think it's fake news
and those who truly mean well
and think
wearing a mask makes it ok
to just go about their business as usual
From 1980 to 2018, 700,000 people died of AIDS
From 2020-2021, 400,000+ have died of COVID and counting
What did you do last March when the pandemic began?
Do that.