When we became forgetful
We cannot remember what gives us pause
On days which seem to never end.
To forget is to die once more
Through Moses’s Egypt to the Wuhan spectacle.
Creatures, animate or not
Still journey on bravely sans borders
Coal, dazed refugees, torpedoes, mountain goats,
Even as pestilence brokers have begun
Roaring: “The economy is dead!
Long live the economy!”
We notice streets bereft of children,
Luxury yachts for the first time while
A goods train leisurely flattens
A curve of migrant workers
And snow-crowned peaks
Swim into view daily on grimy streets.
We cannot mask an ineffable fear
Unlike emperor penguins marching
In a dignified line toward extinction.
