No Hunches, Please, as We Fight a Dreadful Disease

by Ernie McCray

One never knows what life

might bring,

like this coronavirus thing,

a deadly disease

that has rolled up its sleeves

and got people shaking at their knees

afraid of themselves

if they cough or sneeze,

hording toilet tissue

as if it’s the answer

to being at ease

and they’re telling me

because I’m 81

that I’m one of the ones

most likely to succumb

if this so called COVID-19 demon

caught up to me

during its run

so I’m doing the wash my hands routine

for twenty seconds

and trying not to touch my face,

especially not my nose

or my mouth

and curtailing, as much as possible,

going out and about –

but it’s not the health scare

I’m most

worried about.

My bigger concern

is with a man named Donald J,

the president of the USA,

who has the resources and the clout

to do something about

this frightful catastrophe

but he wants to go with

his “hunches”

in doing so

and that drowns me with woe

because this so and so’s

intuitive instincts

are on a par

with a tweaker on meth

as what he might do

is anybody’s guess

as evidenced by

the previous hunches

of his we’ve seen:

his hunch

to make fun

of war heroes

and people with disabilities;

his hunch

to lie practically every time

he speaks;

his hunch

to withhold funds

for a foreign ally

under siege

from what once

was our country’s worst enemy

unless they do him a favor

that will help him politically;

his hunch

to cheat and steal and break business contracts,

not rent to blacks,

cage brown children

like billiard balls tightly racked,

take people’s money

who paid tuition to learn

“the art of the deal”

in the real estate industry

at his phony university;

his hunch to shuck and jive

and ignore reality

as if telling stories

about an uncle who taught at MIT

is going to help us survive

a germ that has crossed

mountains, deserts,

plains, valleys, and seas

ever so effectively

as we now try to counter it similarly.

No. This crisis cries out

for leadership

from folks who know how

to solve problems

openly and honestly,

respectful of our dignity,

so that we can simply,

under these circumstances

that are now coloring our destiny,

be as safe and secure

as we can be.

Sadly we can’t ask

that from the office of this presidency.

But, however, though, he,

like this awful virus,

also needs to be eradicated diligently,

and that, since it can be done

in a voting booth,

should be rather easy.

That, of course, is just a hunch.

But some hunches are okay,

I would say,

if carried out sincerely and dedicatedly.