Playing the Odds
What are numbers, but a manipulation of the facts?
You can make them say what you want,
and what you want is to place restrictions on our liberties.
So they thought, as they ignored the numbers.
And so they fell ill, adding to the very numbers
they had chosen to ignore. Some felt vindicated.
Their survival was all the evidence they needed.
And those who fell by the side, never to rise again?
They were nothing more than numbers to be used
by those who were trying to rob them of their freedom.
This is my response to dVerse – Poetics 428 – Poetry as witness, the prompt from Peter Frankis at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to write a poem that bears witness to local happenings.
Missouri continues to be considered a Red Zone state, with COVID-19 positivity rates far above acceptable levels. Those who express concern for transmission seem to be in the minority, and the numbers continue to rise, as many people in my area ignore mask recommendations, wearing them only when required by a shop or store. In a county of 60,000 people, there have been more than 4,000 cases of COVID-19. Of those people tested, the state has a positivity rate of over 20%.
I tested (negative) prior to traveling to New York, then quarantined and tested again (once more negative). As I stay “out of circulation” during my stay here, I feel safe in visiting with my daughter before she has her child next week, and following that when I see my new granddaughter.
After that? Well, after that I drive back home to a hot spot where people seem content to ignore the numbers that continue to rise.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons (edited here)
rivrvlogr 
It’s all so maddening and insane….hard to fathom. Our state is also seeing the numbers rise and those of us who care seem to be in the minority.
Take good care, Ken. It’s good to hear you’ll be able to see your grandchildren and especially exciting you’ll get to be near when the new one arrives!
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Thank you, Betty.
I’ll take good news, any day, and this promises to be the best.
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Keep us posted! 🙂
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Will do!
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It is so easy to keep ourselves safe, so I don’t understand why some people don’t.
Possibly ‘this can’t happen to me’ syndrome…
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I guess. I’m as stumped as you are.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
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Thank you for sharing. 🙂
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Enjoy being with your daughter–and seeing your new grandchild!
It is maddening–and the people who still believe all of Trump’s lies. And now, it seems he’s had two super spreader events!
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Thank you, Merril.
Two super spreader events – and still no lesson learned.
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😢
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Well-summed. Amen, Brother.
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Thank you, sir.
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What a mess, if only it weren’t so. Yet it is counterposed with such joy in your own life.
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Thank you, Paul.
The good with the bad.
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Yes, I always look for that good.
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Something to celebrate!
I’d like to say they deserve what they get, but having watched someone fade away while hooked up to a ventilator–I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But the weight of endangering and possibly killing others will lie heavy on them, whether they acknowledge it or not. (K)
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