Chernovid

 Poetry 9

Raw throat sandpaper roughing down the edges of my voice

But not for the smoother

Like ragged lines ripped flesh

Rivulets with jagged trenches drier than the Gobi

Forcing mucus production for me to choke on

Breaths go deeper

Requires cleaning of the alveoli

Drags the trenches more thoroughly in an endless cycle

Coffin lungs buried in a sunken chest

Rattling phlegm from the rafters

And after all this do I even have Covid or just a cold?

Chills from an illness

Booster effects roosting a little too close to home

Control copy clone with a messy edit

Nothing can stop you unless you let it in

Babadook in the basement but the corner is empty

and the coroner is racing

To get away from the faces on the flickering screen

Black and white and living color

Shivering in gamma rays emitting radiation

Until bodies look like melted pizza

Absorbed into the mouths of babes

The sacrifices of nations paying the debts of those in charge

Erecting monuments for those who risked it all

at the price of the small

What's the cost of a few ten thousand lives when there's pride involved?

And what can you get for a million?

Especially when there's interest building

Rags to riches

A throat with an itch

A curious tickle is how it begins

[Inspired by current events and Chernobyl]