Bring Out Your Dead, Bring Out Your Dead Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

Are we to revert to the conditions of the Plague(s)
When the cry was heard
As bodies were dragged to the street
For pickup and mass burial?

Then there was no know cure
And the only hope
Was that when the disease abated,
Those remaining would
Return to a ‘normal' life.

Now, we set the stage for a repeat
With microorganism gaining the upper hand
As we evolve them with antibiotics
To a more combative state.
As we treat very ill TB, AIDs and Staph patients,
To name only the top draws for medical intervention,
The handwriting seems to be on the wall.
Yes, many of these individuals
Can be returned to a normal life
But what of the rest of humanity?

When bacteria compete
For a favorable environment
Those that have not evolved
Are more likely to predominate
As they aren't 'hindered' by the baggage
Of genes that serve no useful purpose
Other than to give them a favored status
When challenged by antibiotics.

Perhaps without the massive use of drugs.
'Normal' life and death will return
And civilization will survive.
Maybe?

While Congress twitters away its time,
No one seems to be looking over their shoulder
To see if the forth horseman is poised to return.

re: Evolution at Work: Watching Bacteria Grow Drug Resistant, Robert Lee Hotz, Wall Street Journal, B1, June 8,2007.