Nineteen Lines on Covid-19

By David Lee Garrison

It sneaks up behind you
and spits on your neck,

it sleeps with you,
storms into your dreams.

It stabs your nerves
like the screeches of a crow,

challenges you
to a duel,

ties you up
then runs away.

You get a glimpse
of it in the glow

of late-night television,
hear it in the click of a clock

and the rustle of newspaper.
It pushes you six feet away,

then gets in your face
and screams:

I’m going to kill you.

The poetry of David Lee Garrison has been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac and on the BBC.  His new book is Light in the River. 

I have no idea where this poem came from.