A Global Pandemic

Though global health authorities
pay no attention, the fever
gripping the world community
does qualify as a global pandemic.
It has, moreover, ancient credentials
this fever that overtakes normally
sensible and healthy people
who in the grip of its intense
unsettling power become suddenly
addled with manic compulsion
as they rake lawns, wash vehicles
clean windows, ream out kitchen
cupboards, wash draperies and
generally behave as though
demented. A malady, alas, for
which there is no cure, but a
remedy that echoes: repeat annually.