Christine Rhein: Panic
March 13, 2020
Because it’s too late now
to sound the alarm
over the lack of alarm,
over the sudden
wealth of it. Because look
at the Dow, the S&P,
at markets all over town
out of soap, aspirin,
bread. Because of the canned
soups I bought
for my father—age 88,
and the way he sighed
at me—his cupboards full
making him nervous
about the chance that food
and money might go
to waste. Because the virus
keeps floating
on the nightly news, one cell
like a giant globe
of clustered red flags. Because,
while warning us
not to touch our faces,
that health official
touched hers, and last week,
at my physical,
my doctor smiled, sanitizing
his hands, hugging
me hello. Because here
in Michigan—
the first COVID-19 reported
three days ago,
and now, in Detroit—
my son’s last day
of teaching for a while.
Because, after sending
the fifth graders home
with letters in Spanish,
he emailed—Mom and Dad,
I’m really scared
that my kids will end up
going hungry.
Because who needs free lunch,
math, science,
testing kits, when a president
doesn’t take
responsibility at all for delay,
proudly declaring
two very big words—
national emergency.
Copyright 2020 Christine Rhein
There is an HTML/CSS solution for hanging indented lines if you’re interested. May not matter much with this poem’s short lines but with longer and block-length lines they won’t show right on smaller windows:
https://lostinmist.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/solved-html-css-for-poetry-standard-format/
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I guess this one isn’t quite the hanging indent case, but the same CSS properties with line classes could be used. And I agree with Beth, nailed it!
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Nailed it. Amazing.
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Thanks, Beth!
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