I now understand that patient zero was
a young girl from the Bronx who had witnessed
her older brother being beaten to death on the street

and her heart first swelled
with anger and fear, but then released itself
into love oceanic

a desperate love for all humanity
for better days

the newscasters showed graphs all week
of how her love spread like a contagion
with people across all continents –
Antarctica included – infected

until finally
in a matter of days
we the people
of planet earth
throbbed as a
single loving
organism

for this, let us pray,
there is no vaccine
nor cure

Chagall 2020