The problem was I could see it

The jammed hallways

packed emergency room, the ICU. 

I could feel the mounting panic in the chest 

of the staff

making it difficult to breathe.

The sweat beneath their scrubs 

and yellow long-sleeved gowns.

Their latex gloved hands, N95’d mouths

plastic shielded faces.

I could see the underground corridor

that connected

one part of the hospital to another

without ever coming up for air.

I had walked those hallways 

usually at night, often alone

carrying specimens to the lab

supplies from Central

or a freshly mixed IV solution.

The problem was it haunted me.

Didn’t allow me to sleep

and I didn’t need the extra images

when a friend sent a video clip

taken by a medical resident.

You could see only his feet 

stepping over

bundles the size of bodies. 

So many that my first reaction was to ask

Is this a hoax?

How do we really know those are bodies

and not hospital gowns wrapped

in white morgue sheets

or bags of trash

or staff playing a joke.

But we knew, didn’t we?