What Rough Beast | Covid-19 Edition | 04 02 20 | Jen Schneider

Jen Schneider
Haiku on Human Spirit, Resilience, and Creativity

Early bird specials
exchanged for senior-only
shopping times. Germ free.

Ultra-lux dining
replaced with white gloves
and curbside pick-up.

When Spring curtains close
on high school production crews
radio shows sing.

As supplies dwindle
and toilet paper runs low
barter days emerge.

A three-ply four pack
trades at a steep premium.
Basic needs come first.

City streets empty
as urban dwellers retreat to
high-rise balconies.

Spirit shops shutter
as governments scramble
to catch loose droplets.

Courtesy handshakes
cease as fingers curl and push
thermometer tabs.

Ethical debates…
Five packs of ramen remain.
Purchase one only.

Activists converge.
Go Green converts to Go Home. Now.
United we stand.

Get Out the Vote pleas
shift to cyberspace convos.
Door knobs turn deadly.

Chilling statistics
yield emergency measures
with long term impact.

Jen Schneider’s work has appeared in The Popular Culture Studies Journal, The New Verse News, Zingara Poetry Review, Streetlight Magazine, Chaleur Magazine, LSE Review of Books, and other literary and scholarly journals. An educator, attorney, and writer, Schneider lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Philadelphia.

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