Artwork © Eric N. Peterson

Unbeknownst to Most

We’d been infiltrated by a deadly
pathogen,

replicating, adapting

as lawmakers sold off their stocks

as task forces floated genocidal scenarios

as Nero fiddled,
assuring us all we had nothing to
worry about

the ever narrowing window for
containment was closing

even as WHO supplies were refused
and
post office plan for mailing surgical
masks was nixed,

every effort to silence or discredit
pandemic experts

was made
by those who did know.

 

Erik Tate: “When I’m not writing poetry I enjoy oil painting, photography, gardening, and cooking. My favorite poet is Allen Ginsberg, and I am a huge fan of the Beat Generation poets and writers.”

Eric N. Peterson is from Atlanta, Ga. He’s been drawing cartoons all his life. He leans towards the absurd, imaginative, and the surreal, as that’s where all the flavor is.