Ancient Egyptians honored the ibis as a symbol of their god, Thoth, as well as its symbiotic aid in reducing parasites from fish ponds. Ibis became extinct in Egypt due to their harvesting for funereal purposes. Written on 3/4/2020.

The Ibis and the Flood

Beware, the flood! croons the ibis

The ibis:  Symbol of Thoth, Heralder of floods
Threskionis aethiopicus. God of wisdom and writing

Villagers watched the ibis in their fish ponds

Eating water snails infested with liver parasites

At Saqqara’s tombs, interred with the dead:

One and three quarter million ibis

Corona!

Her hanging aria, a somnolent bedlam

Matter of time COVIDia, mashestico e poderosa

On the hymnal, the preschooler’s sleeve

A humid breath on the subway

The coffee house cough-cough

On the lips of lovers, Corona

Her fingertips, borderless refugees

Taking residence in our eyes

Corona Wuhania!

She knots the ropes of ships, and brings East near to West

She is the lord of eyes-wide, screening breath for veracity

She soars the sky, citizen of the planet, above earth and death

She violates equally. Her net will drag our floors of human coral

Dear Corona, (The Ibis prays)

Bridger of cultures, bound to no ideology

Illusory virus omnipotente: Forgive them,

For they know not what they do