Pandemic Diary

Adjutant Stork
As adjutant stork of military bearing,
His posture left others staring,
He would strut, not walk
He would squawk, not talk
But he wore a mask because he was caring.

Lesser creatures, not nearly as imposing
Who are given to preening and posing
Thought a mask wasn’t smart
As if weak of heart
Not knowing it was others they were bruising.

They chirped liberty lets them refuse a mask.
“If I hurt myself, why should you ask?”
Then squawked the Stork
In a stern retort,
“As you hurt others you’re taken to task.”

“Else, follow Pascal and stay at home,
Resist temptations to meet and roam.
If you resist allures
And stay indoors
You won’t need to track that genome.”

So at the sight of this great masked bird
They were first shaken, then they were stirred
Perhaps they were wrong
In assuming all along
That thinking about others is absurd.

About The Author

Dipankar Gupta

Dipankar Gupta is a sociologist. He is the author of, among other titles, Q.E.D.: India Tests Social Theory and Checkpoint Sociology: A Cultural Reading of Policies and Politics