Praise to essential service providers
Who daily put their lives on the line.
Such a giant debt we owe them!
May their hearts forever shine!

A special shout-out to doctors and nurses
And other health care workers who strive--
With limited equipment--to keep
Patients with COVID-19 alive.

Praise to epidemiologists
Who give us guidance and rules to follow
When the advice given by some
Of our topmost leaders is hard to swallow.

Praise to all who do their part
To keep a deadly virus from spreading,
Despite scary uncertainties
That make it hard to know where we're heading.

Praise to all who listen to
The voices of reason and do not let
The voices of ignorance cause them to
Behave in ways they'll one day regret.

And while we're praising all these people,
Remember the victims who had to die.
When a government's responses
Are muddled, the cost in lives can be high.

-by Bob B (5-22-20)

“I’m not going to wear a mask,”
The man says with a look of defiance,
As he stands in the midst of a crowd,
Defying common sense and science.

"I don't like the government,"
The man without a mask proceeds.
It only comes in handy for him
When it happens to suit his needs.

"The government is not," he adds,
"Going to tell me what to do."
Only his unreliable
Sources tell him what is true.

"The CDC can't be trusted,"
He says with a look of disdain,
Letting too many conspiracy theories
Seep into his paranoid brain.

"No business or place of work
Can make me wear a mask," he declares.
When it comes to the safety of all,
His words show how little he cares.

"Freedom is what it's all about,"
He shouts, but he just doesn't see
That it has nothing to do with freedom;
It’s merely utter stupidity.

-by Bob B (5-21-20)

I want to see beyond the mountains,
Know what's hiding deep in the sea,
And survey the fascinating features
Of the human heart's topography.

We can scale the towering peaks
So we can see what lies beyond,
And we can probe the ocean’s depths
To understand that giant pond.

The human heart's more problematic;
So many secrets are hidden deep.
At times its depths are hard to fathom,
Its self-protective walls too steep.

We must always keep on searching
And NOT assume that we comprehend
All that can be known, for knowledge
Has no boundaries, no end.

If going beyond our human knowledge
We tap into the Absolute,
Imagine the bliss of suddenly seeing
A transformed being taking root!

-by Bob B (5-17-20)

I’m a tiny virus;
Corona is my name.
I love stealthiness.
That's my claim to fame.

If you would prefer,
You could call me Mister.
How’d you like to meet
My brother and my sister?

It’s really very easy.
They are all around--
Sometimes in the air;
Sometimes on the ground.

We like it when you gather
Together in large groups.
That’s when we decide
To call out all our troops.

We rely on people
To let down their guard.
For some careless ones,
That’s NOT very hard.

If you want to meet us,
Look for crowded places,
Where there aren’t a lot
Of masks on people’s faces.

Of course, you know that our
Ubiquity demands
That people everywhere
Do not wash their hands.

We really love it when
People do not pay
Attention to the experts
Or let them have their say.

Spreading conspiracy theories
Helps you to meet us
And drowns out the voices
Of those out to defeat us.

We rely on leaders
With questionable goals
And people who believe them
And frown on safe controls.

I hate it when I hear
The ugly word "vaccine."
How could people be
So thoughtless and so mean?

I won't make it easy
For those who want me dead,
For MY raison d'être
Is "Spread, Baby, Spread!"

-by Bob B (5-16-20)

He longs to rewrite history--
For us to see the world through his eyes,
With help from his favorite TV station,
Which scandalously spreads his lies.

He'd love to control the media,
Eliminating the critics who
Point out his flaws. Watch him try
To shoot one on Fifth Avenue.

He caters to his oligarchs--
To those who use their power and wealth
To fill their pockets and gain control,
Often through fraudulence and stealth.

He uses kowtowing appointees to help
Create dirt on his critics to draw
As ugly a picture as he can
And violates the rule of law.

When we have a national
Emergency, and things look dim,
He does his best to cover up
The truth and makes it all about him.

He even wants political
Opponents to be locked away.
Yep, Trump is acting more
Like Vladimir Putin every day.

-by Bob B (5-15-20)

(This poem could be sung to the melody of Stephen Sondheims's song "Giants in the Sky" from INTO THE WOODS.)

There's a virus going around!
There's a harmful, horrible virus going around!

When you wake each day,
And you hear the news,
And you'd like to think
That it's just a ruse--
That it's maybe a dream--
And so you refuse
To let it change your life.

Then you realize
That the dream is real,
And you learn that you
Simply can't conceal
The troubling facts
That the signs reveal.
You know…you must
Decide to place your trust
In people who don't put on airs.
Their message scares
Us because there's
A harmful, horrible virus going around--
A harmful, horrible virus. Oh, yes, that's what they've found.
And it is a threat
To both you and me.
Yet some people say
That they don't agree.
Though it creeps up close
And it doesn't make a sound,
It's all around.

If only we knew how
To fight it best.
One thing we know is
We can take a test.
But the president seems
To be so obsessed
With other matters, so…

Each state is stuck with
Figuring it out.
And you're out of luck
Unless you've got clout.
So you distance yourself
From others, no doubt.
And you wonder how
The delays came about.
But hey!…Just say,
"We can make this go away!"
But to find a path
Will not be a breeze.
We need expertise
In times like these.
Some say that our economy must come first.
If that is more important than lives, then we’re at our worst.
Yes, we have to work to live and thrive,
But to work a person must be alive.
There are some things that
Can or cannot be reversed.
It's all around.

There's a virus going around!
There's a harmful, horrible, awful, deadly, dangerous
Virus going around!

-by Bob B (5-13-20)

(Listen to Lin Manuel Miranda sing Sondheim's song on YouTube.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz-eZEcsvIk

When I wear my mask,
It feels like a disguise.
If I smile, I hope that you
Can see it in my eyes.
I admit a mask
Is not so fun to wear.
And if it makes me look a little
Dorky, I don’t care.

I know my mask is not
Foolproof, but I suppose
It’ll keep some viral droplets
Out of my mouth and nose.
And when I take it off
At any time or place,
What I have to tell myself is
“Do not touch your face!”

Trying to keep my sanity and stay alive,
I’m hoping a vaccine will soon arrive.

My designer masks
Are really quite unique.
But frankly, I won’t go so far
To say that I look chic.
Who would have guessed?
What a crazy year!
Ten months ago I never thought
About protective gear.

We all know, of course,
Pandemics are not fun.
All the repercussions touch
Each and everyone.
But we do not know
All that might ensue
If we do not carry out
The things we ought to do.

Trying to keep my sanity and stay alive,
I’m hoping a vaccine will soon arrive.

If scientists create
A new vaccine, then we
Also have to wonder how
Effective it will be.
But I look forward to
A lovely future day
When I can leave my masks off and
Can put them all away.

Trying to keep my sanity and stay alive,
I’m hoping a vaccine will soon arrive.

-by Bob B (5-10-20)