The Virus
Spread like Wildfire once released.
No One’s really sure how it started…
Whether leaky Military Canister
Or Pissed-Off Monkey Bite.
Underground Research Bioweaponry
Gone Wrong
Or Worcestershire Sauce Embalming
The Mainstream Media,
Of course, knew nothing.
Anchor Scarecrows – Government Tools
Spraying Fear Inoculum.
My Grandmother parrots her Worries
Brought on by Bad News Broadcasts
“They’re coming to get you Barbara!”
AND NOW FOR A SPECIAL REPORT:
“This just in from News Channel 5…
Everyone Quick! Run and Hide!
Grab Supplies and Get Inside!
Board your Windows, Lock your Doors!
Wipe out every shelf in stores.
This Plague you can’t call Chinese Flu
Is coming to a Town near you…
So overreact and Live in Fear
Until WE say the Coast is Clear.
(POUNDING. SCREAMING. GLASS SHATTERS. PANIC IN THE STUDIO)
Oh No… IT’S HERE!
AAAAAGGHHHHHH!”
*We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties *
3 Weeks and 6 Days Later…
Waking up in a Hospital Bed
To the End of the World.
A loss of all senses
Especially Humor.
Lighten up A-Holes
It’s the Apocalypse!
Shades of Great War.
All Quiet on Western Front.
Stay-At-Home-Order –
Over Exaggerated Overkill
Containment Orders.
Rights being slowly Restricted,
A Country under House Arrest
For Crimes we haven’t committed.
Martial Law. Army Blockades.
Bogged Down Trenches.
Mustard Bomb –
Gas-Masked Masses
Flash-Dancing to Thriller.
Foreign Biochemical Warfare.
Black Mirrors and Murder Hornets.
#KillCuomo
Flat-Earthers denying the Curve.
Buses blazing by Blinking:
Stop the Spread
Stop the Spread
But Fear, Hate, and Ignorance
Spread faster
And are more deadly than any disease.
Spreading…
Slow Stagnating Isolation.
The Rigor Mortis setting in.
Put a Sign on the roof for the rescue choppers –
S.O.S.
HELP.
DEAD INSIDE.
Some things just can’t be contained.
Spreading… Spreading…
Depression. Relapses. Suicides.
Spreading… Spreading…
Longed for feelings of Human Contact.
Spreading… Spreading…
The Wealth and power of Billionaire Technocrats.
Spreading…
Misinformation. Philosophies.
Working-Class Poverty. Spreading…
Conservatism. Liberalism –
Conform! Conform!
A Loss of Individualism,
Spreading…
Capital Imperialism,
Communists! Russkies!
Masque of Red Death,
Red Dawn! Dawn of Dead!
Red Dead Redemption!
Spreading… Spreading…
The Looting and Riots.
The Righteous Anger. Spreading…
Milk-Plus and Ultraviolence.
A Cold War Reheated.
The Fire – That We Didn’t Start.
“Humanity is the Disease.
Inferno is the Cure…”
– A Haiku on a Box of Medical Masks –
Manufacturer’s
Warning: Paper Masks Don’t Stop
The Spread of Stupid
Trust me… I’m a Plague Doctor!
Pestilence Spreading across the Plains.
Black Death from Mongolia.
Black Friday Super Spreader Savings!
Black Sunshine –
White Zombie Devil Music!
Voodoo Brainwashed corpses
Capitulating to CNN
Headlines:
“THE DEAD WALK!”
“THE DEAD ALSO VOTING IN ARIZONA”
It’s Pandemic Pandemonium Folks!
Flesh Eating Flakka Fiends in the street
In a state of Excited Kokodelerium.
Dope Addicts Mainlining Emergen-C Packets.
And Hey There Surfer Girls and Bros!
I just heard them say
A 2ND Wave is on the way…
So pack your cars and grab your Boards!
As Mindless Hordes start to pile in stores
Buying up all of the toilet paper!
Staggering through Malls…
Products… Products…
Mass Consumerism!
Consume… Consume…
Amazon Prime!
Consume! Social Media
Massive Marketing Campaigns
Consume! Netflix and Disney +
Consume! Alcohol and Illicit Drugs –
They closed down all the Libraries
But the Liquors Store’s still Open…
My Emotional Support Cat = Essential Employee of the Month.
Consume… Consume…
A Daily Dose of Fake Ass News
With Fat-Filled, Sugary, Processed Foods!
Consume… Consume…
Consume…
We’re Doomed!
We are all the one Black Guy
That surprisingly survived the movie till the End –
Just to get shot in the Head.
Mistaken for a Ghoul by the Government
“Okay, he’s dead!
Let’s go get him…
That’s another one for the fire!”
Greg Wilder (also known by the stage name Slay! the Dragon) is an award-winning writer, full-time student, and spoken word performer, currently residing in Schenectady, N.Y. After a long, downhill battle with alcohol and drug addiction, Greg entered treatment in June of 2017 and rediscovered the therapeutic potential of art and writing. Today, with over three years clean, Greg shares the healing power of poetry with other recovering addicts as an intern for a drug and alcohol treatment center. Greg received an A.A.S. in Human Services from SUNY Schenectady in May of 2020.
