Ed Madden
True
So Todd told Bert
his wife knows a nurse
in Philly or somewhere
who sent in 5 tests
and they all came back
positive and all she did,
he said, was pull the bags
open and send them off.
It’s true, he said.
By now he’s pulled on
a mask, seeing that Bert’s
wearing one. He had it,
too, he said, the virus,
but got over it and
now he’s immune.
You know, he said, this
is all going to go away
right after the election.
—Submitted on 10/07/2020
Ed Madden is the author of Ark (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2016), Nest (Salmon Poetry, 2014), Prodigal: Variations (Lethe Press, 2011), and Signals (University of South Carolina Press, 2008). His poems have appeared in Crazyhorse, Los Angeles Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Forward Book of Poetry 2021 (Faber & Faber, 2020), among other journals and anthologies.
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