Samantha Herndon
School of Medicine and Public Health, Collaborative for Reproductive Equity
2021
Poem
1.
Waiting to enter the waiting room
Springtime hyacinths reluctant to bloom
A jab in my arm
Or else the funny farm
For me it’s vaccine or waxing poetic on doom.
2.
Layer on layer of smile-covering cloth
Disinfecting, high-grossing, like David Lee Roth
You might hesitate
Craving freedom to respirate
But better double mask, than take off.
3.
Where once a spread-out newspaper
Might inform us of the latest noteworthy caper
Now, as in a bad dream
Folks rely on a meme
To find cures for a virus, or vapor.