No Vacancy

EvaMarie Gye

All the hospital room doors are closed
each with a patient inside.
	Construction walls are ever-present
	as we continue to fill past capacity.

Every nightmarish breathing machine
is being used to save lives.
	Everyone screams about personal freedom
	when asked to help themselves and let others survive.

ECMO, which gives someone’s organs a break, 
can only be used for those under thirty-five.
	And ICU care is administered to patients in the ER.
	We don’t have room in the ICU or the cardiac-unit-turned-ICU.

Loved ones are barred at the entrance
and signs beg them not to fight masks.
	Yet God forbid that surgery slows to a crawl.
	Even worse, the CEO’s pockets weigh a little less.

The deaths we see only represent 
those with money for a diagnosis.
	Others suffer at home, undeserving of treatment
	due to their underlying medical conditions.

Millions of people have lost their lives
and even more can’t make a living.
	But they wonder why we have a worker shortage;
	must be free government money making new generations lazy.

Everyone needs to continue working
so they found accommodations.
	“Please work from home and homeschool kids,
	but we can’t pay you for both.”

When this is all over, we can go back to normal.
Keep in mind, that is the ultimate goal.
	How do we know what this new normal will look like?
	There's no way we can go back to how things were before.