April 16, The Pandemic, The Great Influenza, and Guns

 

Not content with watching the pandemic rage,

Another mass shooter has tried to upstage

The death and destruction of Covid 19,

But too late at night to get on the front page.

 

The death and destruction of Covid 19

Are still not as bad as in 1918.

The Great Influenza, combined with the war:

Both caused the most carnage the world’s ever seen.

 

The Great Influenza, on top of the war,

Killed more of our species than ever before.

And, even the Black Death, so long in the past,

Could not match the flu as it ran up the score.

 

Yes, even the Black Death, so long in the past,

Did not kill as many, did not kill as fast,

For we were not nearly as crowded back then;

We’re more crowded now; will the flu record last?

 

 

Today, we are even more crowded than then.

In crowded conditions, pandemics begin.

We have better science and medical care,

Some infected with stupid, often, white men.

 

We have modern vaccines and medical care.

But many resist both; beliefs are laid bare.

They won’t wear a mask but will carry a gun.

Though Covid’s immune to the arms that they bear.

 

Some won’t wear a mask but will carry a gun,

Ongoing health hazard that must be undone.

Can some just not handle their testosterone?

Politicians?  Police?  So, what can be done?

 

If some cannot handle their testosterone,

Mass shooters, white males, mostly acting alone,

Unloved and rejected, expressing their rage,

Adult bodies but with minds never full grown.

 

 

 

Unloved and rejected, young men show their rage,

Mass murder gets some of them on the front page.

Will we ever learn how to educate them

On guns and disease?  If not, death is the wage.