year of the Rat ้ผ ๅนด
A Chinese New Year poem blending zodiac folklore with the panic surrounding the early coronavirus outbreak.
the Rat
and the beginning of a new day.
alert, courageous
with frail health it tires quickly.
lucky numbers 2, 3,
favored colors, blue, gold and green.
unlucky things:
like coronavirus spreading
causing panic
somewhere far away.
the pharmacy opened its shutters,
the assistant barked
“no rush! no rush!” –
and to be fair the customers
a mile deep
(surgical masks sold out online)
act civil and ordered
shuffling through the door:
due to the lunar new year
stockists torn between tradition and
profits.
are you scared?
the student in the queue was asked.
damn right she said.
i always feared when the Rat
hopped onto the Ox’s back
then scurried to be first
into the Emperor’s party,
karma might bite its arse.
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