painting by Eric Lacome
Bat out of Hell
“James wanted to streetlight me, so that the bats
would circle me like I was the center of the world.”
--Sherman Alexie.
I never have been very fond of bats,
those hideous flying creatures of the night.
Then again I am a lover of cats,
especially if they don’t scratch or bite.
For me a bat is just a flying rat,
though a flock of them is a real sight.
They say Covid-19 was started by a bat.
No pandemic has been started by a cat.
Some bats are actual vampires
that vastly prefer human blood.
Sadly, not Big Pharma or church choirs,
not snake oil elixir or blessed magic mud,
Not holy healers or very large fires
can cure the deadly Corona crud.
It is frightening to review daily Stats,
hard to imagine when things will be alright.
Glenn Buttkus
Couplets
Posted over at d'Verse Poets Pub
10 comments:
It is very unusual times. Going back to only a couple months ago seems out of sight.
It takes some real effort to stop it... we are just waiting and hoping. I look for the number in Italy each day, they seem to flatten out right now... maybe that is a good sign.
But things will be alright once more. You've captured the feelings perfectly.
This tween time tests the mettle of each of us. The time when good seemed so long ago and good again so far away if at all. I liked Linda Lyberg's poem yesterday, where the bat isn't to blame as much as the humans that destroyed the bat's habitat. Humans better listen up. Mother Nature is pissed. Excellent writing, as always, Glenn.
Well said Glenn... still I think I still love chicken even though they may have started the bird flu and bacon for sure...swine flue LOL!
Great poem Glen... I hate the idea of bats flying around me too.
Tomorrow my son retires after 30 years as a respiratory therapist. He had planned a big retirement party and a graceful segue into retirement. Instead he's feeling guilty for leaving his co-workers to continue to fight the brave fight. Your poem is, as always, well written.
I used to quite like bats, until I heard rumours that they carry all sorts of things, which now include the Covid19 virus. I’m glad you emphasised the fact that ‘No pandemic has been started by a cat’. Indeed, they helped keep the rats down in the plague years. I stopped looking at the news reports on TV and Internet yesterday during the daytime; I was a little less depressed and even managed to get out for a walk around the football pitch. But, as Björn said, if you follow the daily figures, Italy does seem to be coming to a turning point. Sadly, the situation in the US is frightening. We are all thinking of each other, which is a good sign. I wish I could say the same for the idiot in the White House.
I don't want a bat flying around me, but they do eat mosquitos, so there is that.
It is all so scary. I can't even tell you how angry I am about the orange creature causing people to go looking for and possibly hoarding drugs that have not been proven to cure this--when my daughter and mother-in-law and others I know actually do need it to control their lupus.
Life in the pandemic gets stranger and stranger. I like your comparisons between bats and cats!
The news is best taken in small doses.
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