How fortunate it is that we can laugh at those who believe that the world will end tomorrow, for it spares us from having to admit that the world as we know it ended long before today.

If you refuse to test you will be able to tell yourself that what you have isn’t Covid, but unfortunately the Covid you have doesn’t care what you tell yourself.

The historian tells me she’s worried about the plague, for all of her students are sick and she keeps remembering how in the last century writers would say “plague” when discussing fascism, so I asked her which type of plague she is worried about, and the historian replied: yes.

I know, my friends, that in this moment we have other things to worry about than this ongoing pandemic, and yet, my friends, that in this moment we have other things to worry about does not mean that we need not worry about this ongoing pandemic.

I confess there are days when I look at the world and I wonder how it is that this pandemic can still be happening, but for the most part when I look at the world I understand how it is, alas, I understand exactly how it is, that this pandemic can still be happening.

When you hear them talk about this or that issue they will hide their defeatism behind the line: “you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube,” but when you hear this remind them that it is precisely after the toothpaste is out that it becomes necessary to clean up the mess.

These days there is nothing utopian about believing a better world is possible, after all, just look at this world, really, just look at this world, there is nothing utopian about believing that we can do better than this. * Week 288 of plague poems librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/09/19/p...

As we walked by each other the stranger stated “you’d look better without the mask,” and though I meant to say my goal isn’t to look better but not to feel worse, before I could stop myself I turned to him and said: “you’d look better if you kept your opinions to yourself.”

My colleague has a new favorite phrase whenever he has a chance he says: “avoid it like the plague,” and I want to tell him I badly want to tell him, that seeing as he has lost track of how many times he has caught Covid, he is actually quite bad at avoiding plagues.

I asked the historian, who studies the dark times, how it has come to this and she replied: it’s because we have failed to take care of each other. So I asked her if we will get through this and she replied: if we do it will be because we took care of each other.

I once heard that in your 20s all your friends will be getting married, and in your 30s all your friends will be getting pregnant, and in your 40s all your friends will be getting promotions, but without wanting to reveal my age right now all my friends just keep getting Covid.

I know that not everyone has learned anything from this pandemic but from this pandemic everyone should have learned that things get worse just before they keep getting worse.

An open note to the acquaintance who I heard refer to the number of times they have had Covid as their “body count,” I know you meant this in jest but considering the number that you cited I worry there is a good chance you really may have a body count at this point.

For years whenever we were overwhelmed by how much we had to do my sister and I would joke that perhaps society would collapse before we’d have to do it all, but today when I said this instead of laughing she just said: I don’t think that’s funny anymore.

I asked the professor how her semester is going so far and she replied that so far she has two kinds of students: those who have tested positive for Covid, and those who swear they just have a weird cold.

I asked my aunt, the doctor, about the recent report that found: “A large swath of the U.S. currently does not have the basic, ground-level immunity necessary to stop the spread of viruses,” and my aunt replied: we went from endemic in this country, to the end of this country.

A friend of mine says in this moment we must commit to taking the high road. A friend of mine says in this moment we should not fear taking the low road. My friends whichever road you choose take a mask, for in this moment all roads go through plague country.

She told me in the last few years she’s lost her spark, her drive has vanished, as have her goals, and the more she talked the more I wanted to tell her what she was describing was long covid, but I knew what she wanted was just for someone to listen, and so I sat and listened.

I keep hearing people say they will not be distracted from, they will not be made to forget, that which is really happening. And I keep seeing people live like they have been distracted from, like they have happily forgotten, the pandemic which is still happening

I saw an article (yet another article) which ominously commented on brain fog while promising “four easy ways to help fix it” and as I read the advice I couldn’t help but think that they should have emphasized the importance of avoiding the virus which can cause brain fog.

When the doors opened the man inside the elevator looked at me and began to ask why I was wearing a mask, but before he could finish the woman next to him began coughing, so he stepped out and stood silently next to me as we waited together for the next elevator.

I know, my friend, that in this moment it seems as though everything is just getting worse, and though I do not mean to add to your anxiety please know, my friend, that in this moment “everything is just getting worse” unfortunately also includes the current Covid surge.

I asked the professor what her procedure is when a student tells her they have Covid, and the professor explained she tells the student they will be excused, and then she tries to think of how to tell her class they were exposed when that student was in class the day before.

My coworker wonders whatever happened to people having empathy for one another, so I asked him if he was planning on starting to wear a mask again and with a bewildered look he asked me why he would do that.

An open note to the reader who asked why I never write love poems: thank you for your question, but please understand I wouldn’t keep trying to tell people to take care of each other if I did not love them.

These days there is nothing utopian about believing a better world is possible, after all, just look at this world, really, just look at this world, there is nothing utopian about believing that we can do better than this.

As we reflect on all that has happened this week let us not forget that a pandemic was happening too.

Many people seem to believe that the start of September marks summer’s end, but regardless of what many people seem to believe everyone being sick at autumn’s beginning is not normal. * A compendium of the 287th week of plague poems… librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/09/12/p...

When they say they are worried we are becoming desensitized tell them they are right: for this virus can harm our sense of smell our sense of taste and our other senses too, and should they say they meant desensitized to death, tell them this pandemic has numbed us to that too.

I have seen the charts showing that in most regions the wastewater scans are showing Covid levels rising and I must confess I really must confess I am so very tired of seeing shit like this.

I have been told if you have nothing nice to say it is better for you to say nothing at all, and so all I shall say is that in these dark times we must take care of each other. (though I recognize that those making these times dark will not think this is a nice thing to say).

In this moment you have likely been told that we must not become desensitized to death, but should you speak of the mass deaths unfolding in this moment you will be told that you’re too sensitive.

I confess that I have little patience for those who crow about how we must protect and value every single life but who can’t be bothered to wear a mask.

I asked the professor how things are on her campus today, and she noted that usually she ends her classes by telling her students “be good to each other” but now she worries this will be seen as a political statement, and before I could reply, she added: “I guess it always was.”

I keep hearing people say that after this everything is just going to get even worse, but it’s worth recognizing that before this everything was also just getting even worse.

The professor told me that most of her students are coming down with bad cases of “freshman flu,” and when I replied that I thought this semester she wasn’t teaching any freshman classes, she sighed and explained: “freshman flu is just what they call Covid here.”

My brother in law sent me a study about “the hidden environmental cost of disposable face masks,” and though I meant to reply that corporate polluters are a bigger issue than mask wearers, instead I simply asked him: “since when do you care about the environment?”

I sent my friend the ardent Luddite an article about someone with “digital dementia” which consists of brain fog, memory loss, and word searching; and my friend who is always eager to critique technology replied that “digital dementia” is an odd way of spelling long Covid.

When you hear people say (and you will hear people say) that sometimes they really think that 2019 was the last normal year of our lives, gently and politely remind them that the 19 in Covid-19 stands for 2019.

Multiple studies have documented how schools have been integral to this virus’s spread, which is something worth keeping in mind now that students are back in school and the current Covid wave is continuing to surge.

A recent study found that humans inhale as many as 68,000 microplastic particles daily, so if you are tired of explaining that you are wearing a mask so you won’t breathe in the virus, instead you can say that you’re wearing a mask so you won’t breathe in microplastics.

People keep telling me despite how things look that it isn’t as bad that it really isn’t as bad as it seems, but the closer I look the more evidence I see that this society is coming apart at its seams.

You’re right, my friend, the courts won’t save us. And, you’re right, my friend, politicians and tech execs and celebrities won’t save us either. But, my friend, it’s wrong to say that nobody is going to save us. Put a mask back on, my friend, we’re responsible for saving us.

As the meeting began the convener apologized about lunch running late but explained it by noting “they’ve been slower ever since the pandemic,” and in response someone joked: “ever since the pandemic we’ve all been slower” and instead of laughing several people just nodded.

According to the CDC at the moment Covid infections are growing or are likely growing in thirty states, but if you are wondering which state is the most dangerous one to currently be living in just know, that state is: denial.

When I was young group projects annoyed me but from school I learned if a few of us are willing to put in the work it would be enough, older now group projects exhaust me as from this pandemic I’ve learned if only a few of us are willing to put in the work it really isn’t enough.

I saw a young couple out for a walk, on his face a mask, and on her arm a tote bag the side of which read: “the world is a better place with you in it,” and as this half-masked couple passed by, it occurred to me that one of them carried a sentiment and the other embodied it.

There is a certain comfort to be found in the adage that you should not attribute to malice what you can instead attribute to ignorance, but look at the world oh, my friend, please just look at the world and know that so much of what you see really should be attributed to malice.

I keep hearing it said that at this point we are “post-Covid” but whenever I scroll through social media I keep seeing people post about how they have Covid. * A compendium of the 286th week of plague poems… librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/p...

My aunt, the doctor, Told me a new joke. She asked:   How bad
is this Covid wave?   I said I did not know.
So she answered:   This Covid wave is so bad
that officials in California
are urging people
to wear masks again.   And neither of us laughed.