A little cough, no worries, it will go away
More irritable next day, worrisome by third
Had better see a doc, but slept the last that night

Scattered world wide, by planeloads, unrevealed, unknown
Germinate in a week, spawn on breath, speech of death
Revived ancient bug, mutated, drug resistant.

Pandemics, long with us: Black Death was not the first
Now global rapid spread, global rapid response
Always ready, always surprised, always novel.

The fit didn’t survive, the survivors, the fittest
Catastrophic selection, months, not million years
Emptied earth, cleaned, reclaimed, to be fought for, again.