"LOVE'S PANDEMIC STRATEGY"
You caught us well in Bethlehem,
You caught us well in Bethlehem,
But did not catch what
ails us.
You caught our baby-self,
our childhood-self.
You caught our saying “mother”,
“brother”, “friend”.
This became yours, and
makes you ours, for good.
You caught us well, in
flesh, in rest,
In work: our seeking,
questing;
Our laughing, weeping; and
our many loves
To which we may say “yes”,
or “no”, or “wait”.
To our surprise you caught
our grown-up life,
Without contracting our diseased
Autonomy-obsession.
Pandemic freedom shuns
tough claims of love
And trust. Disharmony
endangers all
Our needed bonds; with
you, with others. Self,
Itself, our being, forms a
trap:
A stranger we must wrestle.
Every human carries this pandemic,
And bears its wounds within
our heart and mind.
Those scars on our
behavior span the world.
Our planet radiates the
shade
And smell of viral
darkness.
You caught us without catching
this disease.
Our healthy vitals worked
so well with you:
So charmed, we failed to
grasp your alien scheme
To carry in you what we
are.
You would contract our
plague like
A lover poisoned by their
true love’s kiss,
Or quarry by their faithful owner shot
Right through the heart,
with no love lost. You did
Lure us, so we would
infect you.
But love, your love,
arranged this:
You caught this, arms outstretched, upon a cross.
“X” marks the spot upon
your map of love
(Love’s trysting place
with death), where we played false
While you played true, and
won us whole!
Our curse, your cross,
connected.
We hang here, nailed
together.
That's your doing, all along.
We're caught! Now, can we
catch you?
(by Dennis Evans, May 2020, edited)
