The Virus Infects Us All

To take hold and pick the moment,
To wait as though it was the first moment before an exam,
To hold the breath and never let it go.

Even in those moments of panic, when the smog clears
And we see this pandemic for what it is, a reset,
A discharge of all the poison from the world.

It’s too late to stop some things, the good and the bad –
The open and the closed, the truly key workers and
Those who hold and own the economy, the power.

The sense in which we are all victims of the 1%,
But are too distracted to see it, the hand claps,
The single-fingered gestures, the empty sense of purpose

And the waiting at the end of the day, in silence
Realising that most of what we value isn’t
Of value, just the detritus, chaos and mess of

A capitalist life, growth for the sake of growth.
Circular arguments in a time of despair
Holding to the centre for fear that all will fail.