it’s the club
nobody
wants to join
but once you’re in
you are a part
of history
lifetime membership
posterity
Germ of the Century
has found its lethal way
to you
flying Batwing Airways
all the way from China
Asia Minor
Europe, Russia
Paris, France
match and dance
cruise ship liner
roadside diner
and all resistance
we threw in its way
did not deflect it
from its ruthless course
shield wall
KN29
vaccinations three
or maybe four
as nothing
to the force
of destiny
with your name stamped upon it
plainly as a backstage pass
from Sunbury
a calliper
a smallpox scar
signs of the times
ASIO file
that pin was dropped
and the bastard
found you faster
than Deliveroo
or Uber Eats
knocked you flat
and sweating in your sheets
kept you off the streets
to contemplate
biology
and what friends are for.
See also poems read out loud at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9uLwxslE_VQ-fu-Dw6gdIA/playlists
My book of poems, A Day At A Time In Rhyme (Littlefox Press) can be found here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Day-At-Time-Rhyme/dp/0648083861/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+Day+At+A+Time+In+Rhyme+Jane+Clifton&qid=1572053238&sr=8-1
or on the SHOP page of this very website.
A Day At A Time – live! coming to La Mama in July 2022.