IN SPITE OF OURSELVES

Periodically,
Check the virus counts,
# of cases,
# of new cases,
# of dead,
In the U.S. and right here.
Check the fire map,
Percentage contained,
# of new fires,
Check the Air Quality Index,
+200 is bad.
Here, Portland, Seattle.
Check the polls,
Who is ahead,
Who is behind,
All this data,
Facts,
With no connection to anything,
Other than themselves.
Bits
We invented,
To tell us
What’s happening.
But its not the whole story.
Here we are,
Waiting, wondering, planning, creating
Or hiding and shaking and ducking beneath the covers.
Its time to get on with it,
Like John Prine sang,
In spite of ourselves.