Waking up alive

Poems in the time of Corona

Waking up alive

I woke up alive this morning.

Chest clear, no fever,
I drank my tea
and poured slightly less milk
over slightly fewer cornflakes.

I woke up alive this morning.

With my head in my pillow,
I can hear my blood flowing;

with my headphones disconnected,
I can hear my lungs breathing

like Darth Vader.

I daren't touch my face.

I woke up alive this morning.

This should be on today's news,
announced after deaths and infections,
light relief before shortages and quarantines,

with a song and a steamy rumba
and its own commercial break.

I woke up alive this morning.

Don't tell me if I don't make it tomorrow.




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