To increase awareness
of the new pandemic
I named my cat
Covid.
It seems to do the trick.
I tell my friends,
I am at home with Covid.
They stop inviting me to their daily stroll.
I tell my boss,
I am dealing with Covid.
He tells me to forget work, just to stay home.
I put a sign outside the house,
Beware of Covid.
My neighbours keep a mile distance.
Covid and I
are the masters of social isolation.
It is easier than we thought.
I sit by the kitchen table,
enjoying my Cheerios.
Covid gets an extra portion
of real tuna-flavoured kibble.
We read the morning paper,
watch CNN, CBC.
The numbers are still climbing,
but the trend is changing.
I smile at him.
Covid and I
are flattening the curve.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
