City of Quarantine
State of Emergency
Department of
Poetic Justice
IMPERVIOUS POEM No. CV19-93-INF
DECLARING GROCERY RUNS NOW A PERIL
FOR ALL, ALBEIT NOT SO PERILOUS AS FOR
ANY BLACK YOUTH WITH A HOODIE; AS
SUCH, WHILE IDLING IN THE TRADER JOE’S
PARKING LOT STREAMING A RADIO
BROADCAST FROM JAMAICA THE SWELL OF
BACKGROUND VOCALS ON THE CHORUS OF
“DESTINY” WOULD BRING THE DRIVER TO
TEARS, THE SAX PLAYER’S STOICISM WOULD
LEND THE NECESSARY COURAGE TO STAND
IN LINE TWENTY DEEP, THE SMALL YET
INADEQUATE BLESSING OF ANTIBACTERIAL
WIPES DISTRIBUTED AT THE DOOR LIKE
RAFFLE TICKETS; WHEREAS ONLY A FEW
INCHES DISTANCING HIM AND THE SHOPPER
WHO INSISTED ON REACHING IN FRONT FOR
THE MARINARA JAR REMINDS HIM OF THE
REDWOOD TRAIL THE DAY BEFORE, WHEN
THE JOGGER BARRELED BETWEEN HIS SMALL
CHILDREN, THE SWEAT THAT TINGED THE
MOUNTAIN AIR, THE UNUSUAL CONDITION
OF ENTITLEMENT AND DISPLACEMENT A
PANDEMIC; DECLARING HIS NURSE COUSIN’S
BANDANA AN INSUFFICIENT BARRIER FOR
INFECTIOUS DROPLETS AND ANTI-ASIAN
HATE; DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF
NATIONAL GUARD TANKS TO DISTRIBUTE
AID AN EMERGENCY IN EXISTENCE;
DECLARING THE TERM “NEW NORMAL” A
WIDESPREAD MISNOMER THAT MUST
CEASE—FOR WHAT CRISES SHOULD BE
DEEMED “NORMAL” HERETOFORE OR
TODAY? WITHIN WHICH TERRITORIAL
JURISDICTIONS OF LANGUAGE IS “NORMAL”
NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH OPPRESSION? IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE AUTHORITY VESTED
IN THE UPRISING SEAS, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED THAT CHILDREN BE HUGGED
TIGHT, TAUGHT CHESS AND READ BOOKS BY
OCTAVIA BUTLER, THAT QUARANTINE
MATES DISTANT AND NEAR DANCE TO
REGGAETON, DRINK AND MAKE LOVE, THAT
FLAMES BE FOR COOKING AND FEEDING
FAMILY UNTIL THEY BECOME FLAMES FOR
CAPITOL BUILDINGS, THAT THE CITY ERUPT
WITH MARIPOSA LILIES AND SEA OTTERS,
THAT THE STOCK MARKET CLOSE FOREVER;
PURSUANT TO UNIVERSAL LAW, THE
ANCESTORS, AND THE APOCALYPTIC SNARE
REVERB OF DILLA’S “FALL IN LOVE,” THIS
POEM IS TO GO INTO EFFECT IMMEDIATELY
AND SHALL STAY IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER
NOTICE.
Click here for PDF.
Contributor Notes
David S. Maduli is a veteran public school teacher, deejay and father of two. He is an alumnus of the VONA, Las Dos Brujas, and Napa Valley Writers’ workshops, and is a recipient of the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. Born in San Francisco and raised all over, he is a longtime resident of Oakland, California. He holds an MEd in Teaching & Curriculum from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and he completed his MFA in Creative Writing at Mills College with a fellowship in Community Poetics. His work is most recently published in The /tƐmz/ Review, Sonora Review, and the Read Water (Locked Horn Press) and Far Villages (Black Lawrence Press) anthologies.
