Facemasks poems on Hello Poetry

b for short Apr 2020

Assume the employee smiles as you
wait in line for a sanitized shopping cart.
Assume she has slight imperfections
in her front teeth as you do.
Tiny chips from hard candy mishaps
back in the early 2000s
that you choose to notice while
you examine your mouth in the mirror.
Assume that they're eyes are telling the truth--
they didn't wake up with a fever this morning,
and neither did the lady or her four kids behind you.
Assume by their relaxed body language
that we're all still safe from something we can't see.
Assume that since your own smile is naked,
somehow, you'll get out of this public place untouched.
It feels like you do. You hope, anyway.
Assume that the governor knows what's best when he says
"It is suggested that all citizens wear facemasks,
regardless if they're showing symptoms."
You put the peanut butter in the cupboard
and the paper plates on the counter.
You wash your hands for twenty seconds,
singing "Happy Birthday" twice, just like they said.
You touch your face because you assume you're clean.
Assuming your own risk, you pick up your phone and
in a rigid, robotic fashion, your search begins.
Assume you will see "out of stock" and "due to high demand,"
and assume that you will come up empty-handed, again.
You find her though,
a young girl who has made hundreds face masks to sell
on her online shop.
She asks you to select your pattern,
and as I scan my choices,
I imagine what would accompany my feverish face the best.
"Cats," I say to her through a series of clicks.
"Cats, and I think, I'll take the one with roses too."

#covid19 #coronavirus #facemask #national #poetry #month #cats #roses

matthew scott harris May 2020

Wearing facemasks doth dehumanize socialization

Understandable... the sensible
(three ringed circuitous) logic
to trumpet necessity
each individual moost heed
bedecking, cloaking donning,
ludicrous interloper ****** covering,
(I prefer sporting
latest custom made
invisible máscaras faciales),
when commingling amidst madding crowd,

nevertheless coronavirus (COVID-19)
makes laughingstock kickstarting
maniacal paranoid testing yapping
authoritarians blabber ceaselessly
bleak household pandemic
plagues (sear ring)
robust human specimen,
hence yours truly,
a feckless (gibbon) primate
breathes sigh of relief,

why? cuz he counts himself insignificant
absolute zero worth
versus microscopic prickly orb
aging long haired pencil neck geek
best beat hasty retreat
to his man cave
not necessarily avoiding microbial denizen,
yet any potential suffering
scouting out troubadour woefully
jackknifed inept hideaway

availed no choice
rolls out Harris tweed Scottish matt
courtesy minuscule germ man
greeting me with gotcha!,
I willingly surrender
the only thing at stake iz my life,
which would immediately
ebb fate (mine),
automatically buzzfeed chap
offer no chance
for symbiotic relationship

as pathogens indeed choreograph
(***** deed done dirt cheap)
loft hilly doth waft
through cellular skeins comprising
garden variety/ generic gent
herewith essentially crafting
his poetic epitaph
before onset disables,
disallows, and disvalues
one humble, intelligent, jesting

kindhearted, literate, modest
nincompoop aimlessly adrift
within Brownian movement
(**** sapiens random motions
viewed miles skyhigh)
ostentatious, piteous, querulous,
ridiculous, superfluous, et cetera,
thus forward donations
and/or pledge
(I promise you -

swear to dog
portion of me ashes)
to favorite charity
and will hoop to visit thee as repurposed
noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun,
preposition, conjunction, interjection,
numeral, article, or determiner...

betterdays Jul 2021

Cosy as bugs we are

The sound of cars
Streaming through puddles
Competes with rain rattling
On the old tin roof

Underneath that roof
We listen to the percussion
of the log fire as it consumes
twig and tree.

The purr of the cat stretched
out in basking bliss
Competes with the snore
of the man asleep with book
resting upon his chest

And from down the hallway
the soundtrack of a young man
defeating armies and building
empires.

All this I hear as I break from marking essays and take a sip
of lukewarm Earl Grey tea..

In the kitchen, dinner is roasting
away in the oven..with the not so small pup standing hungry guard.

By the door coats, boots, scarfs and facemasks await our after dinner walk..half an hour around the neighborhood, then back into the house. This is our lock down life...

We in Australia have been relatively free of the Covid 19 virus ..the area I live in has had no cases for just over 400 days but earlier this month an area adjacent has had some case of the new delta strain appear...so we are once again in lock down...ir is school holidays so it is some what easier.. and again because it is a rainy winter the urge to go outside is curtailed..
My heart goes out to those more directly affected...

Marlina Feb 2023

Among all those things

Among all facemasks I wear,
   that one special facemask is my favorite.
It oozes with a feeling of love & care,
   so unique that I find it rare.

Among all handkerchiefs that are given to me,
   that one special handkerchief is my favorite.
It smells of calm and sweet love,
   ****, I miss that special one.

Jamie Walker Apr 2020

To The Healthworkers

these hands shave countless faces
these hearts unconditionally care
these eyes cry tears for strangers
these brave souls are still there
through these frightening times.

they cannot stay at home
they are the essential pillars of society
underequipped and undervalued
and they're on the frontline
fighting an awful virus.

they are begging for facemasks
they are begging for gowns
why should they beg for the protection
necessary to stop the spread of infection?
they are being let down

they are the ones who stand at bedsides
the nurses monitoring vital signs
the carers providing essential care
all of them safeguarding lives
while their own are being put at risk

so while you applaud
remember to never again say the words
"just a carer" or "just a nurse"
because blessed are the keyworkers
who risk their lives to help others.

J.Walker April 2020

— The End —