A Crisis Emerging
by Rosie Stenhouse
Sometime autumn 2019:
In another corner of the world
A virus, invisible,
Silent
moves through the population
Occupying their bodies
Depleting their oxygen
Stealing their last breath
January 2020:
A coronavirus
Just another hyped up thing across the other side of the world
Here, quietly
Hospital wards prepare
Re-deploying staff
partitioning rooms
refocusing services
February 2020:
A coronavirus
Hitching a ride to our shores with its host
Unknowingly providing free transport
And access to a new population of bodies
Which it occupies
Depleting our oxygen
Stealing our last breath
March 2020:
The coronavirus
Multiplying
Across our country
Across continents
Across the world
A pandemic is born
