Diphtheritic

Diphtheritic
(inspired by A Prayer For the Dying)

A single cough of misted blood
From the sick throat of the child.
The fever spreads like spilled water,
Filling in the empty lungs of neighbors.
It starts with the children, the weakest link.
Spreads from a kiss, a gentle breath, from
Mother to son, from son to neighbor.
Before five are dead, four more die
By their own hands, families hung in the
Barn rafters, babies with bullet holes,
A far better death than lingering in a fevered
Torment of drowning in blood.
Men line the boundary with rifles to keep
The sick in and the healthy out, to keep
The disease from spreading like trash in
A strong wind. Families flee in the night,
Shots sound in the air.
A fever and a cough started a spreading
Infirmity that turned into a much
Worse contagion, passing from family
To family –
Death.