I did not Covid.
I did not shake its hand.
I did not open the gate: they opened it,
Shuffling their wheezing virus
Through dementia’s door.

I did not inexperience the past; I did not foresee the future.
I did not design the system that turned into a trap.

I did not tune into the wavelength of wailing.
I did not underestimate; I did not underreact.

I did not laud them as heroes and cut their pay.
I did not shroud the dead in a pall of platitudes.
I did not doctor the statistics.
I did not erect barriers of blame.

I did not stretcher their dignity off the screen.
I did not mix grief with self-congratulation
Into a farce.

I did not mourn, I did not understand.
I did not make room for remorse.
I did not botch the procurement of salvation.

I did not Covid.

End of Statement.