by Mark Danowsky
 |
| “Never-Ending Road” painting by Elizabeth Kenney |
After three years, The New York Times announces that close coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end.
What has ended, I wonder,
And what has not?
So many with prolonged illness
Know the battle rages on
And those soon to fall ill
And those who will fall ill
I count myself
Among the lucky
Recall my sureness
That I would not survive
Of course, few foresee
The deft hand of death
His scythe, at times, the edge
Of visible—a bullet
Stops the heart
Without just cause
The needle droops
In a useless arm
Tires spin on ice
And metal crushes metal
A cloud opens up
For tears to flood
And what has not?
So many with prolonged illness
Know the battle rages on
And those soon to fall ill
And those who will fall ill
I count myself
Among the lucky
Recall my sureness
That I would not survive
Of course, few foresee
The deft hand of death
His scythe, at times, the edge
Of visible—a bullet
Stops the heart
Without just cause
The needle droops
In a useless arm
Tires spin on ice
And metal crushes metal
A cloud opens up
For tears to flood
Mark Danowsky is Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART: a journal of poetry. He is author of the poetry collections As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press), JAWN (Moonstone Press), Violet Flame (tiny wren lit), and Meatless (Plan B Press). Recent poems in Red Ogre Review, Green Ink Review, The Broadkill Review, anti-heroin chic, Harpy Hybrid Review, Otoliths, and elsewhere.