Russian hackers are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research, the American, British and Canadian governments said Thursday, accusing the Kremlin of opening a new front in its spy battles with the West amid the worldwide competition to contain the pandemic. —The New York Times, July 16, 2020
never stops, there is no finish line
when combatants push each other out of the way
and hide their secret weapons in pockets
filled with lint
and when one pushes another down,
he robs what is in that pocket and sniffs
at it like a dog with a dead frog
and maybe takes a nibble just to see
but what if the rules called for
holding what you know in your hands
palms out offering to share
for the common good
so everyone crosses the line
at the same time or like the basket
you put your coins in at church
knowing they’re meant to help someone
else in the human race.
Tricia Knoll is a Vermont poet hunkered in the deep woods. Her recent collection How I Learned To Be White received the 2018 Indie Book Award for Motivational Poetry.