The Last words of a shooting star

By Zin Lee

The last lament of a futile war:

A second chance for death

To make a mockery of prayers

Long hushed in the dark



κορώνη korṓnē, a Headline disease

Our century’s only

Cross-sectional culling, fatal to capitalists

And pauper alike—its legacy?

Hospitals: the threat of extinction

Our only lever for civic reform



Today, we live in the wake

Of its innumerable grandchildren

Each one a contender to chaf

To agonize us, each individual bristle

A village torched by sickness.



Remember:

Wash your hands while humming ‘Happy Birthday”.



Zin