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Our next poem for na·po·mo comes from Valyntina Grenier. Please enjoy her poem below!
vi·rus, n. [L., a slimy liquid, poison; cf. FITCHEW], 1. venom, as of a snake. 2. a) any of the group of ultramicroscopic or submicroscopic infective agents that cause various diseases, as smallpox: viruses are capable of multiplyingin connection with living cells and are variously regarded as living organisms and as complex proteins. b) specifically, a filtrable virus. c) the exudation from the vesicles of cowpox, used as a vaccine for smallpox. 3. anything that corrupts or poisons the mind or character; evil or harmful influence.
To Explicate a Virus
Venom
Vitriol
Violence
In quiet
To persist
To dissipate life
With bias or bribes as your shield
Shudder
I’ll grip
Your arm
I pull
To destring your power
I won’t let you fly through me
By my will decimate here
To cite the second amendment
To ignore the commerce of arms
To act as a stone
Annihilate arrowheads
On impact
You are a bomb
Your shrapnel propels
As arrows do
To detonate as bombs
I reach for a slave
To soothe our low-down hearts
Write a gentle embrace
To calm our frightened minds
I search virus
To find a cure
For the body sure
For plagues of belief
Only words
Shatter the star of illusion
Lay to rest all the Santas and gods
To look after the living
(whom viruses thrive on)
Follow a river of antelope
Herding through a river
Sift through a stream of diatribes
To interpret a virus as benign
To fall in with lies
I despair
To articulate something of import
We all harbor arrows
We fall
Shrapnel blasts on
Valyntina Grenier is a writing and visual artist. Please visit her website valyntinagrenier.com.
