The country is in a crouch

(Title taken from an article by Maureen Dowd.)

                                                                                      Illustration by William Blake

The country is in a crouch

It could be that I'm slouching on my couch

Masking and unmasking myself

Inflating and deflating my

Inner tube because

Under confinement  and

Drowning with love for my brothers and sisters

My tubeless bicycle needs to stay safe.


Still, the country is in a crouch

It could be we shall spring out of our pouch

My tigger-striped cat will take a broker's leap

Up the tree and

Stock options will flutter despite

Covid's glee.


I think of bubbles when

I am in a crouch

From Alka Seltzer to Champagne

All is good for the ouch

I had a dream of being tested

100 million times

And each test requested

To guess how depressed  my tongue could chime!


Today, I gawked at a Sheriff who

Fired his pistol at the opening of a restaurant

And I gawked at my hairdresser who

Was drinking liquid crystal at a clip

So I turned on the tube to listen to Dr. Fauci

Offering words of immunization

As he tried not to be grouchy.

Log Cabin Fever

Here in Alaska, 7 years after Corona hit in 2020, I decided almost to never leave this log cabin I bought after selling my apartment in Atlanta. True, they say the virus left a long time ago, but when I open my window and listen to the birds it gives me courage to write, so I thought I'd share a few lines.

My feet

Soaked in black ink

Trace the living room floor's perimeter. 

3000 steps each day

Of the week I don a different color ink

Indeed my floor resembles Rorchach splats

That inhabit my inhibited state

Often daydreaming of Pompei, Boticelli and

N-95 masks

I remember the day the virus attacked my wifi transponder 

It was a study Netgear R7000

My grandfather had compared it to his sturdy Dodge slant 6

The five bars dropped to 3, then to two

Animals were acting strangely

Cows raced around SUVs and

Dogs started howling and Cats became despondent. 

People were racing for Repeaters and chasing down Troubleshooting

Manuels but the infected machines wouldn't even reboot 

And Amazon was down for good.

My Alaska cabin is haunted but I don't dare leave

I have a repeating dream of worms sticking their heads out

Of the soil and singing "Tutti Frutti"

If I step on one of them they will explode, I will explode

And my apple pie will burn in the oven.

My cabin ghost keeps me company and at bay

From wild animals and cavalier bears 

He looks like a Jack London and when I see him

I feel the cabin listing like it was a ship.

I took have grown my mustache long and I dream one day

Of getting my wi-fi back

If only to take another selfie of myself and

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