What a Wonderful World

What a wonderful world we live in
Corona Virus all around us
The deaths pile up, silently, secretly
Statistics are released like coughs, like sneezes
On the news, it’s a statistical competition
China was way ahead, now Italy’s caught up & overtaken
Asia was the center, now Europe’s the center, New York’s catching up
The world is catching a very bad cold, now it’s a disease
Now it’s a pandemic, now it’s a crisis
It’s a financial crisis, alert but not alarmed
The politicians go on TV, to reassure us, sure
They go on TV to boost their own plummeting stocks
To stop the free-fall on the markets
To stop their free-fall in the polls
Their crony medical officers chime in with mixed messages
Like a bunch of parrots squawking in an earthquake
All the so-called experts chime in with their own narcissism
With their own well-learned exalted views
From their well-isolated cameras and computer screens
Up with expertise, making it up as they go
Down with common sense and the great unwashed masses
It was them that got us into this mess in the first place
Too close to animals they say, too many of them anyway
Time to isolate, keep our distance, from the leper colonies
Time to stay home, with our TV screens
And our social media, all jockeying for positions
Time to stay put, with our modems & WiFi's
With our Internets clogging up with porn & grief
Time to isolate, with our pent-up fears
With our growing pains & broken promises
Time to get real about death, yes it’s coming
No, it’s already here