the conversation

My body talks to me sending signals 

Speaking of chronic aches and pains

Nothing I want to hear about 

Nothing but background noise 

As long as it lets me sleep 

As long as it's not getting worse 

As long as it's not life threatening 

There’s no need to pay attention 

Better to ignore and push through 

Body parts wearing out as expected 

The symptoms of old age no surprise 

Just let me continue as before 

But if something starts shouting

Demanding immediate attention 

There's no choice but to stop and listen 

To seek a measure of relief 

When every conversation turns medical

The topic of stories that old people exchange 

When getting treatment is the main activity 

Let that state wait until later please 

For now we go places and do things every day 

Moving around outside of ourselves 

Taking in the world we live in 

Interested in everything there is 

Seaside Seabird Sanctuary to McGough February 8, 2021

click here to view entire album

 

Boyd Hill February 7, 2021

album

have and have not

If all we had to do was wait patiently

Informed as to our place in line 

And how many get taken each week 

To have a sense when to expect the call

That would be a different country 

Organized in a different system 

With a rational approach to vaccination 

Not the crazy chaos we must navigate 

I got lucky getting through on a website 

Crushed by thousands of page requests 

One of the fortunate few not shut out

Able to get an appointment this week

But you did not and there's no telling 

When it will ever be your turn 

To receive a measure of protection

To feel safer around other people 

We weren't about to camp out 

Waiting overnight in long lines 

Hoping the doses wouldn't run out

Before we got to the injection site

The phone lines busy signals 

No better as an alternative 

Now we set the alarm to try again 

The separate pharmacy websites 

The circumstance of scarcity defines

The haves and have nots condition

In this society the underlying division

Between great wealth and poverty 

The pandemic death toll falling heaviest

On the poor and people of color 

The very same people left waiting 

Wanting a chance to get the vaccine 

The privileged people gaming the system

That is fundamentally unfair to begin with

This is the ugly reality show now playing

Needing the rest of us to shut it down