Contagion

Do you think that humans will ever fully eradicate viruses from the planet?

I sit in the exam and my foot is shaking in a rhythmic manner and I can’t quite remember if we talked about this in class or not. Hell, I’m not a scientist, how should I know? Mrs. Scratts sure didn’t tell us there would be an essay question. If I’m not a scientist, how can I answer some sciency question? Mrs. Scratts doesn’t want some seventeen year old’s drivel about viruses. My pencil’s feeling a little sweaty in hand.

I think that humans will never be able to eradicate viruses fully. Viruses, like other life forms, like us in fact, will keep evolving and there is nothing we can do to stop them. We can try to slow them down with vaccines and such, but eventually they will

overrun the planet

sprung from our own needles

infecting

destroying

the apocalypse is squeezed from a syringe

into my blood

where it mutates

and I mutate

My senses are leaving me

I must infect another

So I am not alone in my despair

The world is tied together

by ebola

and by cholera

and by all the flu from 1918 to 1580 to now

and to forever

don’t mess with the virus

it will mess with you