By Fay L. Loomis
obliterates appointments
erases calendars, blanks slates
frenzies shoppers
bares shelves
trammels government action
strangles, confounds communication
fevers, chokes data
hammers surreal into real
stampedes babies, oldsters, betweens
dares breath, hope, livelihood
isolates, abandons
relinquishes to morgue trucks
impels love to crown royal mess
annihilate indifference, antipathy
Fay L. Loomis lives a particularly quiet life in the woods. Her poetry and prose have appeared in print and online publications.
This poem was written at the beginning of the pandemic when fear circulated like fire fanned by wind, when the world was constantly blitzed with words and images that we could scarcely comprehend.