Roles They Play Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Everywhere,
The same repeated scene...
Has left many horrified.
Incapable to believe.
Or accept until...
They witness themselves,
The horror of it all.

"Are there any gurneys left?
Or something to administer,
Oxygen to the ones...
Losing their breath.
While we expect more to arrive.
The ones who disbelieved,
Shouting themselves to death...
Is not a way,
To continue the doing proves loyalty."

-I don't understand it.-

"Neither do I.
On one side of this mystery,
People have been screaming...
'There is no Cookie Monster.
You will never convince us of it.'

And yet...
On the otherside of reality?
People are determined,
To believe what they have been told.
Even when the hand 'muppeteer',
Has before them appeared to make it clear."

-Who do they trust,
That allows and permits this nonsense?
It's not only crazy.
It is a madness even crack addicts,
Have turned their backs on.-

"Remember the last presidential election?
And who insisted they won.
Although that evidence might have been,
In some other dimension.
Or an alternative Universe.
And you laughed when I mentioned that?
Well...
Those people,
Wide eyed and gasping for breath.
Who came in numbers to defend,
The loser of that election.
To have them also believe,
The 'Cookie Monster' is real.
And out of breath,
They have shouted themselves to near death.
Insisting...
They want four more years of that! "

-But...
What about covid-19?
The virus?
And the death spreading pandemic? -

"It's a hoax. It's a fraud.
It's all faked news created by the media.
And the thousands who have died.
Along with the millions,
Suffering in overflowing hospitals.
Leaving doctors and nurses,
Hoping their performances...
Keeps them secure in the roles they play.
Knowing their 'understudies',
Can not wait to step into the limelight! "

-Really? -

"Yep!
And everyone is waiting with fingers crossed,
The Cookie Monster will soon make public...
This anticipated announcement."

-Wow!
What historic times we live.-

"My behind has been sore.
Sitting on pins and needles,
Waiting for the event."

-Buy a cushion.
Why tolerate that kind of pain? -

"I don't believe you!
I refuse to believe you are serious."

-Whatever.
It's your behind.
Not mine! -