“This is for the Birds” —a COVID-19 poem
I pity the pigeons,
Pecking at empty pavements, wondering
Where have all the crumbs gone.
How can their little bird brains
Comprehend quarantines?
At least it’s not the avian flu this time.
————————————-
“This is for the Dogs” —a canine COVID-19 poem
“Our time has come!”
“Twice a day I round up my human
and take him for a walk.”
“It used to be that we’d only see
a handful of fortunate humans
being led by a dog.”
“Now, every time we go out,
all the happy humans we see
are being walked by a butt-sniffer.”
“We’ve finally domesticated
those bipedal apes!”
———————————————-
The Lament of the Crosswalk Signal
(A COVID-19 Poem)
They used to pay attention to me.
Pods of pedestrians, patiently waiting
For my Green Man.
Lined up on the curb,
Led in by the nubbly muddy-red rubber path,
They’d rub shoulders and chat
Or silently meditate in my red glow.
Some would rashly dash across
Heads a-twisting this way and that
To spy an errant automobile
Come roaring around the corner.
Now the cars are all gone,
And the few people who come
With their grocery bags or dogs,
Just walk right on, paying me no never-mind.
Oh how I miss making them scurry
When I’d turn my flashing Green Man
To stop-dead Red.
Murray C McClellan 