Six years ago
had I known
what was about to happen
I would have looked around
so I could appreciate
(all things considered)
how good I had it.
Six years from now
I just hope
that I do not find myself
looking back at today
and (all things considered)
thinking the same thing.
I keep seeing studies
which find how Covid
damages the brain
and the lungs
and the heart,
and a new study finds
it raises the risk
of kidney disease too,
all of which is why
you will find me
still wearing a mask.
My friend, when you hear
the machine men,
announcing that this year
will be the last year
of meaningful work,
remember: my friend:
that there is no work
more meaningful
than the work we do
to take care of each other.
*
The 312th week of plague poems
librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2026/03/06/p...
When you hear people ask
(and you will hear people ask)
if these machines
are conscious,
please try to remember:
that the question is not
if these machines
are conscious,
but why it is that we
treat people
we know are conscious
like they are machines.
As I paid, the cashier stared
at my mask and said
“I’ve been thinking
about wearing one of those,”
and when I said “yeah?”
she replied “everyone
who works here
gets sick all the time,”
and I wanted to say
“it’s like that at my job too,”
and so, that is what I said.
My friend
the climatologist
tells me
what worries him
is the climate.
My friend
the epidemiologist
tells me
what worries them
are infections.
My friend
the historian
tells me
what worries her
are the people
who aren’t worried.
According to new research
from the Yale School
of Public Health
“If measles vaccination rates
continue to drop
just 1% annually
for the next five years,
the cost to the U.S.
could reach $1.5 billion a year,“
though for many people
such a drop
will cost them everything.
I know, I know,
that it truly seems
in this moment
that things are bad,
but consider that
a new study has found:
“Scientists have
been using methods
that underestimated
how high
sea levels already are,”
so just know
that as bad as things seem
in truth: they’re worse.
An important clarification:
when you hear people say
“during Covid”
they do not mean
back when they
were at risk of catching Covid,
for (alas) that time remains,
no, when you hear people say
“during Covid”
they mean
back when they
were trying not to catch Covid.
After I noted
how a century ago
there was a pandemic
followed by fascism
and a world war,
the historian called me
and explained
that a century ago
there was a pandemic
followed by fascism
and a world war
and also by
nuclear explosions,
so let us hope
history stops repeating.
Quoting something
he saw online
my work friend noted:
that being anti-AI
is like being
one of the only
people actually trying
not to get bitten
in a zombie movie,
and as I adjusted
the straps on my mask
and looked at his
unmasked face, I said:
I know how that feels.
As we spoke
he assured me
that he was feeling fine,
yes, as we spoke
he assured me
that he was feeling better,
and as he said this
between coughs
and in a hoarse voice
I began to seriously wonder
if he was trying to reassure me
or trying to convince himself.
Listen:
you must not say
that this is just like
a century ago
when they had a pandemic
followed by fascism
and a world war,
no, you must not say that,
for we
(unlike those a century ago)
cannot say that we
were not warned.
I asked the historian
how she thinks
this moment
will go down in history
and after a moment
the historian replied
that it is unclear how
this moment
will go down in history
but in this moment
in history
all of us are going down.
Should they respond
to your ongoing precautions
by asking if you
are trying to live forever,
take a moment to remember
that the Baltimore Longitudinal
Study of Aging
has connected
a history of infections
with early frailty,
and then tell them
you are just trying to live.
Was 2019
the last “normal” year?
No, 2019 was not
the last “normal” year.
Though 2019
was the last year
in which it was “normal”
to believe crises like these
couldn’t happen to us.
Listen: you must stop
being so superstitious,
there is a perfectly reasonable
scientific explanation
for this morning’s blood moon,
not that such reasonable
scientific explanations
should make you feel any better
about the current state
of our bloody world.
Whatever you say
at this point
do not let it be
“things can’t get any worse,”
for by this point
you should know
things can always get worse.
Apologies, my friend,
but at a time such as this
I do not hope
that you are well,
rather, I hope
that you are angry
and worried,
rather, I hope
that you are saddened
and not numb,
at a time such as this
it would be strange
to hope
that you are well,
but I hope
that your pets are
When I asked for her insights
on this perilous moment
the historian told me
that she used to believe
we would never again
see nuclear weapons
used in a war,
yes, when I asked for her insights
on this perilous moment
the historian told me
that she used to believe that.
When they tell you
(and they will tell you)
that it is ridiculous
to care about viruses
in the midst of a war
calmly but firmly
try to remind them
that pestilence and war
ride together.
My friend, when you hear
the machine men,
with their
machine hearts,
and their
machine minds,
announcing that this year
will be the last year
of meaningful work,
remember, my friend:
that there is no work
more meaningful
than the work we do
to take care of each other.
Though he already knew
the answer,
my work friend asked
if I was still planning
on keeping my mask on
at the work reception,
and as I knew
what he was really asking
I replied that yes,
he could have
my drink tickets.
When I admitted to her
that at times it is a challenge
to keep writing these,
she asked if I had ever
considered using AI,
and in response I told her
that I am trying
to document
the plagues of our time,
not succumb
to an electronic one.
*
Week 311:
librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2026/02/27/p...
I sent the ornithologist
a study that found
that watching birds
can boost cognition,
and in response
the ornithologist sent me
a study that found
bird populations
are declining rapidly,
so I asked:
“see them before they’re gone?”
and the ornithologist replied
“we’ll be gone too.”
When I went to the barber
he asked me
if I wanted to take off my mask
as the shop was now offering
straight-razor shaves,
and though I wanted to say
that as I was flanked
by coughing patrons
I was already having
a very close shave,
instead I just said: no thank you.
After he forgot
about our scheduled call
my cousin apologized
and noted that with age
he is just becoming
more and more forgetful,
and though I wanted to ask
if it’s “with age,”
or if it’s
“with his 6th Covid infection,”
instead I just told him:
no need to apologize.
The historian
told me
that these
are dark times
The epidemiologist
told me
that these
are dark times
The activist
told me
that these
are dark times
The climatologist
told me
that these
are dark times,
because
the Earth’s albedo
has dropped
due to climate change.
More and more
research keeps emerging
that worryingly documents
“How COVID
Quietly
Rewires the Brain,”
but should you try
to warn others
about these findings
you will be told
to just be quiet.
By this point
you have likely heard that
“Shrinking sea ice
threatens future
for emperor penguins
say scientists,”
but before you reply
that you are a human
and not a penguin,
please note:
scientists say
shrinking sea ice
threatens your future too.
