The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 81

DAY 81: 250,000 families crying

they're everywhere, I'm one, however

however, we need sports, health

I guess is first, food water air

warmth shelter and then sports

the ridiculous restrictions

are hurting the national games

baseball, soccer (European football)

and curling -- we need our heroes

-- we need something to root for -- 

think of the damage to the psyches

of the young, think of the damage

to the economy you're doing

with your 'dangerous to reopen' crap

can't you see how strong athletes are?

if one is ill take him out, DL

but why isolate the whole team?

what are you mad scientists

thinking, haven't you heard that

the virus is over (almost) --

impact on profit revenue margin for

ownership group and shareholders?

lost salary/or not lost salary

for players and coaches? -- we

pay you play -- corona be damned

get your butts on the field! Sons

of bitches! I order you! we need to

wave flags, cheer, wear strange outfits

(so what if tens of thousands gather, 

our choice, free country), even in a

pandemic, death everywhere, we have

our priorities.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 80

DAY 80: I need to start sniffing

Adderall just to keep up --

the new strategy seems to be

cook the books, Cook the Books --

economic numbers down -- reopen

even if a lot of people die

because we'll just stop counting

they didn't die, numbers don't lie

we have great numbers, the best

you say outbreaks in factories

no, that never happened, ask the

authorities, ask me, never happened

I have the books with the numbers

they're all good, good books

people in churches die -- no

I think not unless they are

bad

reopen whatever the cost

because you can hide the cost

say it's low, low cost

budget, economy class, bankrupt

their problem, mine is fine

my organization has great

numbers, just look here

you think those are fake

you're fake

and the federal investigators

are all my buddies, very fine

people

so we're doing great, never greater

great again, America first

master race, master race.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 79

DAY 79: Hi. I'm Corona Virus

aka COVID-19, and I'm a DJ

singer (hip-hop, rap, freestyle,

dub) and actor. I want to let y'all

in on a little secret -- I was born

and raised in West Oakland town,

California, Mandela Parkway,

and I been around.

I come from the hood but now

I live in Bel-Air so good, with

the big shots, gangsters and real

dealers -- so I wants to tell y'all

this: this plague it kick yo' ass

I got it bad and I couldn't

breathe and you know a black

man 'I can't breathe' mean what

and I pretty tough mutha but

this plague, man, kick my ass an'

kick yo' ass too -- whether you

black or white, rich or po'

Cali gold or Missoura where my

kin from, whether you smart

or dumb, progressive or conser-

vative -- man, this is the Great

Equalizer, we been fighting for

equality for 400 years, now it

come over a weekend, Fri. none

Mon. some, we all everybody

get us our 6 by 3 in the end, you

think it's hitting black people or

old people -- wait a few minutes

it'll get around to y'all whoever

you is.

Peace Out.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 78

DAY 78: Numb to the Numbers

number and number we read/hear

60 70 80, 1 million 2 3 4, who cares?

if we're brave and not caught

up in a web of words, games, jokes

and desires all in a doomed

attempt at pathetic escapism

then we listen/read the numbers

and the tragic stories of death

and pain behind them and even

then, even then, we cannot hold

in our small brains all those

numbers -- like the poor who

follow the rich, she's a millionaire

he's a billionaire, they're trillionaires

-- what does that mean when you're

making minimum wage and

shopping at FoodMaxx to save

50 cents per can of tunafish --

it's all nonsense, too out there.

now some people today are

taking advantage of the new

(premature I say) loosening

of restrictions to go out and

smell the flowers out there

but me, I'm not a guinea pig

for government researchers only

interested in numbers, I'm

staying in because: I am not

a number; I am a free man.

Free, but increasingly numb.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 77

DAY 77: Down at the cemetery

they're almost breaking down the gate

got dressed up and washed and

bought flowers to go with prayers

like Father, Mother, I miss you so

not like of all the good people pressing

to get in pushing others aside

with their lopsided masks

there are some contagious who

don't know that they came

to the cemetery today to send

others (t)here tomorrow, I hope

it's not a hot spot, a red zone, but what

irony, no respect for the new hours

nor for a line of who's first

social distancing is out, gotta

get to the tombs, gotta say hello/good-

bye to those who can't hear

say 'I love you' to those who don't

care, walk the tiny streets and

alleys of the mini-city of monu-

ments to the dead, by the living

pushing shoving yelling protesting

to get in.

I watched this on television

because I'm in no hurry to get

in, I don't need flowers, or

nice clothes, greeting or laments

-- I only need the sun, the air

and that I get

elsewhere.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 76

DAY 76: What is good? What is

bad? Are those questions with

answers? Is a plague, for example,

a bad thing to fight with all

possible means or should we just

let go and let die? Is death a

bad thing to mourn or are we

creating our own Rapture to

fulfill our faith's belief in

the Apocalypse? Are rules

good or do we just defy and do

what we want? Is truth good

or is everything fake, a conspiracy

against us in a world where

2 + 2 can give any result?

Is keeping your children safe

a value or after we voted to

kill our parents, our kids are

next? Is love good or bad,

our leader, Big Brother, has none,

should we be like him? Is money

good or bad, are we willing

to risk gruesome death alone

for ours, which we never got, or

theirs, which grows like a 

virus -- love of billions

infecting billions until there

may be billions of losses but

billions will remain to ask

-- what happened? what was

wrong with you lost people?
Many questions, few answers.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 75

DAY 75: I've always lied to you

but this time I'm telling you the

truth, the new truth, not the alter-

native truth, the post truth

truth squared, real reliable

facts -- believe me, it's safe

to go out -- I'm not doing it

myself but, I tell you, it's safe,

go on -- I'm not sending my

kids out, but I'll send grandma

-- oh, forgot, she's disappeared --

so, believe me, we'll be fine

better than before, the numbers

are great, the numbers I give you

believe me, virus is health,

death is life, plague is good,

war is peace, masks are bad,

poverty is wealth -- yours is

mine, that is -- oops, too much

honesty -- it's all propaganda

2 sides to every question, some

people say ...

Follow the rules and you'll be

obedient, and the new rules

say, there are no rules, go out

and party! kick some scaredy-

cat ass black brown yellow red

preferred -- and blue, we hate

blue because they make the

rules, enforce the rules, ump

to cop to blue state -- screw

you, we do what we gotta do.

Yahoo!

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 74

DAY 74: Go bake some bread, I'd

prefer not to, paint another master-

piece, I'd prefer not, do your

prescribed exercises, I don't think

so, is depression setting in, I

don't care, I read good advice

on the internet -- coping strategies

and such -- I'm tired, leave

me alone.

They're calling the baseball game

on account of rain on a beautiful

clear day -- yeah, whatever -- but

millions risk their lives if we don't

all act responsibly -- that I'm

really sorry about -- let me get

my act together then I'll

take care of my business

again -- don't ask me

to shower though, there are

limits.

I saw a hecka lotta stupid people

out in front of the Capital

screaming, waving automatic

weapons, swastikas -- deplor-

ables, someone called them,

and, you know, they are

infecting one another without

protection, MAGA'TS dying

horrible deaths after all that brain-

washing -- at this point, at this point

the way I feel, hunkered down

to help the nurses, watching that guy

watching that guy with a rocket

launcher in a sandwich shop

undisturbed, on television -- 

oh, hell, if mutual contagion

is what they want --

just let them die.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 73

DAY 73: It started, oh Lord, when?

probably back when Barack Obama

ran for president -- the hate, the vile 
hatred, I don't remember 
hate that strong since the 1960s, 
after King's murder and the Kennedys, 
like the good ol' boys had sobered up,

the cities burned anew for Rodney King

the thing returned, then went away
but the whole country not drowned

in bloody red hatred -- race hatred --

like back then, 68 (unless you

count anti-Muslim post 9/11);

so Black Obama dared to be

our leader our face our voice

and the KKK was reborn! They

resisted him for 8 successful

years with every dirty trick

more moonshine, white lightning
they got their Fuhrer elected

-- Russian debts to payoff --
finally someone to turn on
with their one arm salutes.

Where does all this race hatred

come from, what happened

to love one another, decades of
integration, the faux-right

has crafted an identity from

trash talk radio and Fox cons-

piracies, ordinary people buy in,

souls are sold -- they're pissed poor
and vocally letting out -- they're half lushes

and psychos -- they're in your face

with hate of race -- they're

armed and dangerous -- Amer-

ican Nazis, American Republican
Nazis? and that's okay? 

Not in my New Normal.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 72

DAY 72: In 72 days our doorbell

has rung 4 times

I jumped every time

not recognizing

the sound.

I heard the beep-beep

garbage truck backing up

in the night -- that's new too.

yesterday I spun my arms

over my head and they cracked

like kindling twigs going into

a campfire,

a hypnotizing campfire dying

down after all the stories are told

stories of truth stranger than

fiction -- of the 2020 plague

when everything changed.

dirty kids in the mountains

cutting up, teasing, keeping

it light -- if you need to cry

walk away into the blackness

but come back to hear the

punchline about the gone

old man using a Depends

for a face mask walking

down the beach screaming

at spring breakers, screaming

a warning into the breakers

drowned out by the crash

drowned, later, in another

way -- silly chump. 

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 71

DAY 71: -- There's a pandemic.

-- Doctor, how can I help?

-- Stay at home.

-- Okay, but can't I do something else?

-- Stay at home.

-- Yeah, but I'm bored and unhappy.

-- Stay at home.

-- The government said I could go out.

-- Stay at home.

-- But the economy.

-- Stay at home.

-- I hate you doctors, I don't believe you, I'm going out.

-- See you soon.

My fellow citizens, survivors, we are gathered here today to honor the parents, children, friends and neighbors we lost to COVID-19 by reading all the names of the victims of this terrible pandemic. Several famous actors, survivors, have agreed to participate in the reading. Ready? Begin.

After COVID-19

we went back to

business as usual

but after the awful

COVID-20 everything

changed: the environment,

the economy. Then came

COVID-21 with almost

nobody left.

COVID-22

did the rest.

The Quarantine Chronicles, Day 70

DAY 70: I stand on the beach alone

looking at the sea, I am alone

and always will be, with the waves

that rise and break one after

another, I stand there forever

and I see waves come and go

quickly, tides come in and out

slowly, waves and tides and me.

Walking from the bathroom to the

kitchen I'll be fine then sigh

because I'm not fine I'm suppressing

I'll have another moment at

my desk furious with the

incompetent government killing

so many good souls, I'll be

sad all day at what I know.

Thank you nurses, I love you.

I'm hopeful, hopeless, hopeless-

ness full. I'm watching dogs on TV

and I start to shake, I get

up at night and sit in the

dark living room wide awake.

I'm okay, I'm okay

I'm not okay

how can I be okay --

270,000 corpses piled so high

they block the sun

I'll never be okay.

I hope.