The president is now saying
Nay, ordering
That governors allow the faithful to congregate.
“Essential services,” he declares them!
“Open the houses of worship,” he says, “
“This weekend,” he orders.
No matter he lacks the authority–
Such details, in the age of trump,
Being of minor import.
Meanwhile, Birx obligingly blathers,
Citing hopeful numbers
Whose relevance is tainted
By political considerations
More appropriate to an Orwellian novel.
The death rate is dropping now, she says,
An indication that social distancing is working
Reminiscent of then Governor Reagan in California
When he noted the return of clear skies
To be proof the clean air act was working
While calling for its relaxation.
Logic that collapses under its own weight
Is no more needed now
Then it was back then.
Yet that seems the best
These duumkopfs for donnie can manage.
So now it’s safe to attend church
(if you live in an alternate reality)
Where the faithful can mingle
And the virus, to which social distancing
Is as alien as a virus is to our kind,
Can mingle along with them
History, says the attorney general,
Is written by the winners.
The question of who will prevail
In this battle with our invisible enemy
Is being written as I pen these words.
As the faithful rejoice at the wonderful news
The new opportunities for transmission
Afforded the virus
By the relaxation of social distancing
Might spark joy in its peplomers
Were emotions among its bag of tricks—
Were it not already fully engaged
In its existential imperative
To focus all its energies
On replication.
In that regard
Our president has thus far
Behaved splendidly—
Better than anyone, ever!
Were he auditioning
for the job of covid-19 spokesperson
his numbers would be like nothing you’ve ever seen before!
Will the faith of the faithful
Protect them from the viral scourge
When they gather in prayer?
Maybe the CDC
Should add “faith” and “prayer” to its guidelines
Or maybe the president
Should just shut the fuck up!
Tim Konrad
2020.05.22_
sonora2sonoma 
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