As Corona does its dance

Of death, Capital does its work,

Celebrities on television

Fancy wares hawk.

 

As leaders sell their lockdowns,

And coffins litter cities,

Nothing dampens the commercial verve

Of slick celebrities.

 

No pandemic may ever halt

The march of profit-making;

The grimmest news of newest deaths

Must yield to commercial rating.

 

Corona must its gravitas split

With news of stocks and shares;

The least recovery on Dow Jones

Must allay our fatal fears.

 

The dead are but dead and gone,

But markets show the way

Beyond guilt, obscenity, apocalypse

That have their annoying day.

 

As millions trudge for morsels,

Commercials showcase branded oat

Whose budgets help the Channels

Keep their heads afloat.

 

 

Thus the silences of mourning

Alternate with smiles

Over marvels of latest offerings

Of conditioners, cookeries, tiles.

 

What chance has poor Corona

Against such doggedness;

It may do its utmost

But commercials will progress.

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