Corona Has Landed

Her caravan of crowns
circles Earth: feverish,
invisible, mute. Corona

Braids her garland, poised
to steal the breath from
our aged, smoking men.

A steady struggle to reach
these silent startling spirits,
the very Ones we have so

Long waited for: the belated
Ones. We begged to save
all the dying creatures we

Had extinguished, One-by-
One. Sharp newly woven
thorns adorn the crowns,

And let Corona enter
the eyes, nose, tongue
of restless humans.

They wander in mucous,
lungs, the dripping hearts,
slimy guts of our species.

Corona leaves hummingbird
to fly in the sudden spring of
clean wind, air. Birds join 

Forests filled with trees
swaying in the dance
of freedom. Fish swim 

Without end in crystal lake,
who among us could forsee
the deadly edges of Corona’s 

Mercy as her silence takes
us in. The tongues of our
elders interrupted, their

Young exiled from crowded
Wombs of the forebears.
The New World cries 

“Undone!”

Corona — Rampant and Terrible

Our Questions: How can we approach
your spirit, Cornona? Your caravan
deposits drawn crowns in every habitat,
yet when we see you with our third
eyes, we sense your invisible mute
being— not your colorful spikes
surrounding our shivering souls—
both wealthy and destitute. 

Her Answers: You can braid my garland
of terror—  I am poised to capture the
panting breath of every human from
aged drinking elders to drooling
sucking babes. You can struggle
mightily to protect the silent
startling sentient beings.

Our Questions: If we reach you, would you hear
our cry for you to spare the very ones we have
been waiting for? Would you recognize our
belated ones, the sentient beings we walk
by everyday, the dying creatures we ignore
as we beg you to prevent us from
extinguising them one by one daily,
momentarily?

Her Answers: You will help me sharpen the newly
woven crowns. You can stop resisting as you let
me enter the human eyes, noses tongues abandon
restlessness. You can care for other species as
you let human mucous, lungs, bloody dripping hearts
cover the slimy guts. Save your tears for the ongoing
extinctions. Better yet save the animals humans
have damned to extinction.

Our Questions: How could we ask you to meet
us in the sky, leaving the hummingbird to fly
in the sudden spring of wind and air? Is it too
late for us to join you in the forests and fill
the cypress with raven dancing to the tune of
freedom? Would you meet us where the trout
 swims without end in the crystal lake?

Her Answers: Whom among you could forsee
the deadly edges of my mercy? Only the silent 
ones will take it in. The tongues of the elders
will be interrupted. Your young ones will be carried
along with the crowded wombs of the forebears.