My Friend Died Yesterday

I lost my friend yesterday.
She died of Covid.
After painful, frightening weeks
in the hospital.
After undergoing procedures that couldn’t save her.
Alone and scared with no one
by her side
which she always confided to me was her worst nightmare.

I lost my friend yesterday,
But in truth
I lost touch with her slowly
During the pandemic
As many of us did
With one another
As we socialized less
And felt overall less social.
Indeed she was
Unvaccinated
And that was hard
But she wore her mask
Socially distanced
And followed the
Best advice she could find
Unfortunately there was
So much misinformation
Readily available to her
Even some of her family
Members were politicized
Conspiracy theorists
Social media
Helped to keep her
In the dark
Giving her false sense
Of security that
She was strong enough
And Covid would be mild
The algorithms showed her
More things of the same
Instead of showing her
That she was only part
of the fringe few
The news she watched
Questioned the safety
Of the vaccine
And that became an
Insurmountable
Obstacle
Coupled with her
Panic brain
Which already
Limited her life
She believed
Scare tactics
Over science
And given what I know
About technology
And the human condition
I can’t blame her
For her ignorance
Indeed I don’t
Think she had
“A choice”
Because she couldn’t
Choose freely
She needed help to
Overcome her fears
But instead
Got Fox News
To amplify them
I have only compassion
For my friend
She was always afraid
Of being out of
Her comfort zone
And those last weeks
Of her life
Separated from family
Isolated and gasping
For every breath
Had to be a living hell

I lost my friend yesterday
But how many more people
Will die today?
Because they are living
In a bubble of
Misinformation for Profit
They believe the lies
That vaccinated people
Are dying too, and
Of course they are
But the
VAST
MAJORITY
OF DEATHS
ARE
UNVACCINATED
PEOPLE
Whether we
Quibble about numbers
Is it 90% or 95%
Ten times more likely
Or 14x more
However you slice
This pizza pie chart
Vaccinated people
Have better odds of
Surviving
But what?
You want your freedom
To choose?
I’m cool with that.
Until your dumb choice
Killed my friend.
Until your propaganda
Made her so afraid
She couldn’t see the
Forest of facts
Thru the tree of lies
Until she trusted
Your social media rants
More than doctors
Trained to save lives
Until you were so
Full of your own
Bullshit
That you went unmasked
To her house
To celebrate the holidays
Cause no one was
Gonna stop you from
Seeing your big family
Until next year
When it’s gonna be a little
Smaller without
The matriarch that
Didn’t survive
The big lie

I don’t blame my friend
She was a simple person
Easily led by the machine
Indeed
The insurrectionists
Are from the same cloth
Confused
Misguided
Lied to
Feeling frustrated
Without anyone
To blame
Until we created and
We pushed the lies
About stolen elections
And we poured
Social media gasoline
On the false fire
How can anyone
Think for themselves
When we feed them
A diet of fast food
Propaganda
Why is it that
The healthy food
Costs 10x more than the
Junk Happy Meals
Why do we allow
People to be
Homeless
When houses are available
Why are the tax laws
Designed to grow
Wealth for the wealthy
Who has
Profited
During the pandemic?
While paupers
Are fighting in the streets
Against critical race theory
Because they think
THAT
is the problem
With our
“Great” Nation

I lost my friend yesterday
But did I mention that
My cousin died this month too?
And other family members and
The woman up the street and
Meat Loaf
and the
5,625,212 and counting
People who have died from covid to date world wide.
All the while their are political power plays that capitalize on people looking the other way.
I couldn’t save my friend
I didn’t have the resources or community
That mattered to her
I probably turned away
And unfriended many more people
During the pandemic
That I couldn’t help
And for my own sanity
Needed to give myself
Space and time
To take care of those I love
Who have sacrificed for me
But I do believe we each
Make a difference
All of us
Make a ripple
In the still waters
When we throw a stone
May we each be
Mindful of the pebbles
In our pocket
Because our reach
Is far greater
Than we may realize
And then sometimes
A friend dies