Free of Grime by Julia Robitaille

It lingers in the air 
for four – no, 
eight hours afterward, and on surfaces it can 
exist for days, depending on the surface, of course - 
4 hours on copper, 3 days on plastic, 4 on wood, 5 on metal,  
days on glass, and on paper it can vary from minutes to hours to days - 
Food, water, fabric, shoes, 
Counters, tables, handles, toilets, all - 
We must  
Keep Surfaces Clean 

Disinfect all surfaces after touching 
Disinfect hands and avoid 
touching 
Of your face and others 
whenever possible 
happy birthday your hands with soap and water 
and wipe down the souls of your shoes  
Hinder all the ways,  
All the ways 
Through which the little most conspicuous things, they 
can permeate your white body 

after contact with the infected 
or suspected infected 
(for safety assume they’re all infected) 
Drink the bleach! 

dizzying long-term effects 
include but are not limited to 
difficulty breathing
fear, anxiety, isolation from ones we loved 
i cant breathe -  

But never mix ammonia with household cleanser 
Shoot up! lyse ‘em -ol 
Bolster your defenses 
With quickie kleening products 
& heroes like Mr. Clean, 
Ajax, Palmolive 
A tub of bleach, 
O, tub of truth, 
Twisted by knaves 
you must 
clean, to be safe - to be sane, like 
bleach in-your-veins and 
Windex-on-your-windowpane sane  
To escape being slain 
by your inner fears, 
a hostage to your microscopic tears 

Of this - this self-assembling body 
Of not-body, 
Half-living, Half-alive, never dead but never alive because 
It was never live 
Production of massive macrophage cytokinetic storm 
Capable of mass infection 
hidden in the crevices 
in shadows 
of your mind 

We incarcerate the blind, disseminate the wicked 
to stop the spread 
Stop the spread and flatten the soul, 
a foul odor - 
Pests for pesticide 
Insects for insecticide 
Abomination; it's a nation of vaccination, chloroquine - 
Genocide 

When did
The capacity
To breathe and to remember
Become objects of the state 

But we can't forget 
What was never ours 
No matter how hard you try 
It’s a shame you can't 
Sanitize the past with UV light